NEW YORK: A former Meta engineer on Tuesday accused the company of bias in its handling of content related to the war in Gaza, claiming in a lawsuit that Meta fired him for trying to help fix bugs causing the suppression of Palestinian Instagram posts.
Ferras Hamad, a Palestinian-American engineer who had been on Meta’s machine learning team since 2021, sued the social media giant in a California state court for discrimination, wrongful termination and other wrongdoing over his February dismissal.
In the complaint, Hamad accused Meta of a pattern of bias against Palestinians, saying the company deleted internal employee communications that mentioned the deaths of their relatives in Gaza and conducted investigations into their use of the Palestinian flag emoji.
The company launched no such investigations for employees posting Israeli or Ukrainian flag emojis in similar contexts, according to the lawsuit.
Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Hamad’s allegations.
Hamad’s claims reflect long-standing criticisms by human rights groups over Meta’s performance moderating the content posted to its platforms about Israel and the Palestinian territories, including in an external investigation the company commissioned in 2021.
Conflict erupted in Gaza after Hamas militants attacked inside Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 people hostage according to Israeli tallies. Israel in response launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more then 36,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, and triggered a humanitarian crisis.
Since the outbreak of war last year, the company has faced accusations that it was suppressing expressions of support for Palestinians living amid the war.
Nearly 200 Meta employees raised similar concerns in an open letter to Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders earlier this year.
Hamad said his firing appeared to stem from an incident in December involving an emergency procedure designed to troubleshoot severe problems with the company’s platforms, known within Meta as a SEV or “site event.”
He had noted procedural irregularities in the handling of an SEV related to restrictions on content posted by Palestinian Instagram personalities that prevented the posts from appearing in searches and feeds, the complaint said.
In one case, the complaint alleged, he found that a short video posted by Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza had been misclassified as pornographic even though it showed a destroyed building in Gaza.
Hamad said he received conflicting guidance from other employees about the status of the SEV and whether he was authorized to help resolve it, though he had worked on similarly sensitive SEVs before, including ones related to Israel, Gaza and Ukraine. His manager later confirmed in writing that the SEV was part of his job function, he said.
The next month, after a Meta representative told him he was the subject of an investigation, Hamad filed an internal discrimination complaint and days later was fired, he said.
Hamad said Meta told him he was fired for violating a policy barring employees from working on issues with accounts of people they know personally, referring to Azaiza, the photojouralist. Hamad said he had no personal connection to Azaiza.
Former Meta engineer sues company saying he was fired over handling of Gaza content
https://arab.news/p9see
Former Meta engineer sues company saying he was fired over handling of Gaza content
- Ferras Hamad accused Meta of firing him for trying to help fix bugs causing the suppression of Palestinian Instagram posts
- The engineer also alleged that company deleted internal communications mentioning Gaza’s deaths, Palestinian flag emoji
BBC backs Israel’s participation in Eurovision Song Contest amid expanding boycott
- Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia withdraw, citing concerns about the war in Gaza, after organizers clear Israel to compete
- Critics accuse organizers of double standards, given that Russia was banned from Eurovision in 2022 after invasion of Ukraine
LONDON: The BBC has backed the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to allow Israel to participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, despite mounting opposition and an expanding boycott by European countries and public broadcasters.
National broadcasters in Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia have formally withdrawn from next year’s event, citing what they described as Israel’s violations of international law during its ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 people, left much of the territory in ruins and prompted accusations of war crimes.
The BBC, however, said it backed the decision to allow Israel to take part in the contest.
“We support the collective decision made by members of the EBU,” a BBC spokesperson said. “This is about enforcing the rules of the EBU and being inclusive.”
Israel’s participation in the 2026 event, set to take place in the Austrian capital Vienna in May, was confirmed during the EBU’s general assembly in Geneva on Thursday.
However, pressure continued to build in opposition to the decision, with broadcasters from four countries pulling out and critics accusing organizers of double standards, given that Russia was banned from Eurovision in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine.
Following the EBU decision, Irish public broadcaster RTE said it would neither participate in nor screen the contest. It said Ireland’s participation “remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there.” It also condemned the killing of journalists in Gaza and the denial of access to the international media. More than 200 Palestinian journalists have reportedly been killed since the start of the war.
Slovenian broadcaster RTV said it was withdrawing from the competition “on behalf of the 20,000 children who died in Gaza.” Chairperson Natalija Gorscak said the decision reflected growing public demand to uphold European values of peace and press freedoms, noting that the international media are still banned from Gaza.
She added that Israel’s 2025 Eurovision performance had been overtly political, and contrasted the decision about Israel with the ban on Russia’s participation following the invasion of Ukraine.
Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS also withdrew from the contest, describing the decision of the EBU as “incompatible with the public values that are essential to us.”
CEO Taco Zimmerman said: “Culture unites, but not at all costs. What happened last year touches our boundaries … Universal values like humanity and a free press have been seriously violated.”
The EBU did not hold a vote on Israel’s participation in the contest. Instead, member broadcasters voted in favor of new rules for contest voting to prevent governments or other groups from unfairly promoting songs to manipulate the result.
Austria, which is set to host the competition after Viennese singer JJ won this year with “Wasted Love,” supports Israel’s participation. Germany, too, was said to back Israel.
