2023-12-21 23:30:29
The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Meta this Thursday of restricting pro-Palestinian content on Facebook and Instagram, denouncing “systemic online censorship” since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Meta’s content moderation policies and systems are increasingly silencing pro-Palestine voices on Instagram and Facebook,” he wrote in a 51-page report published Thursday.
This censorship is “particularly harmful in a period of terrible atrocities and repression that already stifle Palestinian voices,” said Deborah Brown, acting deputy director of HRW’s technology and human rights division, quoted in the NGO’s statement.
independent council
On Tuesday, Meta’s independent oversight board criticized the social media giant’s platforms for an overly restrictive moderation policy amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The war between Israel and Hamas was triggered on October 7 by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil, killing some 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli figures.
The Hamas Health Ministry in Gaza reported on Wednesday 20,000 deaths since the start of the Israeli bombardments, mostly women, children and adolescents.
In its report, titled “Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Pro-Palestinian Content on Instagram and Facebook,” HRW considers that “Meta’s censorship contributes to erasing the sufferings of Palestinians.”
Deletion of content
The NGO details the deletion of content, the suspension or deletion of accounts, the inability to interact with content or the inability to follow accounts.
In total, the NGO examined 1,050 “cases of censorship and other content suppression in more than 60 countries” on Instagram and Facebook, between October and November.
Of this total, 1,049 referred to “peaceful content in favor of Palestine, while one case referred to the suppression of content in favor of Israel”, according to the NGO, which calls on Meta to “align its moderation policies and practices of content with international human rights standards”.
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