LONDON: Meta has suspended prominent pro-Palestinian news account @eye.on.palestine after citing security concerns related to a possible hacking attempt.
The action has left the popular Instagram account — which had amassed more than 6 million followers among those interested in Palestinian issues — inaccessible since Wednesday night.
Its backup account @eye.on.palestine2, as well as its Facebook and Threads accounts, have also reportedly been deleted.
All of Meta’s associated accounts remained unavailable, as of Thursday night.
The news account @eye.on.palestine has also vanished from X and is listed as no longer in existence.
The account has been documenting Israeli activities and violations in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.
It has played a crucial role in disseminating news about the Israeli bombardment of the region, with its posts being widely shared and reposted by Instagram users.
The channel has also been one of the few sources of available information in the face of internet and electricity blackouts imposed by Israel.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said that the company’s security team had detected signs of a potential hacking attempt, which had prompted security concerns and the decision to block the account.
He said in a statement: “These accounts were initially locked for security reasons after signs of compromise, and we’re working to make contact with the account owners to ensure they have access.
“We did not disable these accounts because of any content they were sharing.”
The suspension has provoked strong criticism from online activists and media professionals, who accuse social media platforms of censoring pro-Palestinian content.
Instagram earlier this month acknowledged a bug that resulted in shared pro-Palestinian reels and posts not appearing in people’s Instagram stories, leading to a noticeable decrease in their reach.
And Instagram last week issued an apology for mistakenly adding the term “terrorist” to some Palestinian user profiles, attributing it to a bug that auto-translated the Arabic word “Alhamdulillah.”
