RAMALLAH, Sunday, December 4, 2022 (WAFA) – Sada Social Center, a Ramallah-based social media rights group, said in a fresh report it has documented more than 72 digital violations against the Palestinian content on the social media platforms in November, including the removal of 40 accounts and pages.
The group pointed out that journalists and media institutions are still the most vulnerable to violations with, as it documented 32 violations against pages and accounts belonging to media institutions, and 25 violations against Palestinian and pro-Palestinian activists.
The platforms owned by Meta came at the top of the platforms that committed the violations, with 61 violations on Instagram and Facebook, varying between removal of posts, limitations on access, bans on posting, preventing the use of some features such as live broadcasts and advertisements, and the permanent removal of accounts.
On the nature of these violations, the Center said 25% of the content censored were texts and words related to the Palestinian cause, while 40% included pictures of Palestinian martyrs or events describing Israeli attacks. 32% of the content censored were videos of the funerals of Palestinian martyrs. Algorithms consider this content to be a tribute to people and organizations that Meta describes as “dangerous”.
The Center stressed the need to report any violation of the freedom of expression or hate speech or incitement against the Palestinians and the Palestinian narrative on the digital space, given that the freedom of expression is a right guaranteed by all international covenants.
Sada Social Center is a voluntary youth initiative launched in 2017 to defend the Palestinian digital rights.
