12/21/2023–|Last updated: 12/21/202307:02 AM (Mecca time)
Human Rights Watch said that Meta’s policies have increasingly silenced pro-Palestine voices on Instagram and Facebook in light of the Israeli war on Gaza.
The organization explained – in a report, a copy of which was obtained by Tel Aviv Tribune Net – that there is a pattern of unjustified removal and suppression of pro-Palestine content, including peaceful expression and public debate about the human rights of Palestinians.
The 51-page report issued today, Thursday, entitled “Breaking Promises…Meta Policies and Censorship of Content Related to Palestine on Instagram and Facebook,” stated that the problem is due to a defect in the company’s policies and implementation, which are “marred by contradictions, errors, and excessive reliance on automated tools to moderate content.” Undue government influence on content removals.
Debra Brown, acting director of the Technology and Human Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, said that Meta’s censorship of content supporting Palestine “makes matters worse with the horrific atrocities and forms of oppression that are already stifling Palestinian expression.”
She added, “Social media are essential platforms that allow people to bear witness to violations and express their rejection of them, but Meta’s censorship exacerbates the erasure of Palestinian suffering.”
The organization said that it reviewed 1,050 cases of Internet censorship in more than 60 countries, and found that they were consistent with the findings of reports by Palestinian, regional and international human rights organizations detailing Meta’s censorship of content supportive of the Palestinians.
Patterns of control
Human Rights Watch observed six main patterns of censorship, each of which occurred in at least 100 cases: content removal, accounts suspended or removed, inability to interact with content, inability to follow or tag accounts, and restrictions on the use of features such as live broadcasting. Facebook/Instagram, and reducing the visibility of a person’s posts without notice (shadow banning).
In more than 300 cases, users were unable to appeal the removal of content or account due to a defect in the appeal mechanism, depriving them of effective remedies, according to the report.
In hundreds of documented cases, Meta has relied on the “Dangerous Organizations and Dangerous Individuals” policy, which fully incorporates the lists of “terrorist organizations” designated by the United States.
Meta relied on these lists and applied them comprehensively to restrict legitimate expression regarding hostilities between Israel and Palestinian factions, according to Human Rights Watch.
The organization also said that the company’s implementation of the “content of newsworthy” policy was marred by contradictions, as it removed dozens of posts documenting Palestinian infections and deaths that had newsworthy value.
“Mita realizes the flaw”
The report indicated that Meta is aware of the flaw in its implementation of these policies, and that Human Rights Watch warned in a report published in 2021 that the company “silences many people arbitrarily and without explanation.”
The organization stated that it shared its current findings with Meta, and that the company responded by saying that its human rights responsibility and human rights principles have been guiding “immediate response measures to crises” since the seventh of last October.
Human Rights Watch urged the company to reform its policies and ensure that decisions to remove content are transparent and unbiased, and said it should allow legitimate expression on its platforms, including expressions of human rights violations and political movements.
“Instead of repeated apologies and empty promises, Meta must decisively prove its seriousness in addressing censorship related to Palestine by taking concrete steps towards transparency and reform,” said Debra Brown, acting director of the organization’s Technology and Human Rights Department.