WEST BAN (Dispatches) – Facebook-owned Instagram is changing the way its algorithm highlights user content following widespread criticism that the social media was purposefully suppressing Palestinian voices.
The company has said the new algorithm no longer differentiates between original content and re-shared posts that users choose for its “stories” feature.
Since the start of the recent protest movement against the Zionist regime’s evictions of Palestinian families in occupied East al-Quds, pro-Palestinian activists and influencers have complained that Instagram and other social media platforms were censoring content meant to spread awareness for the cause.
Instagram first said the issues that were being reported were due to “a widespread global technical issue not related to any particular topic”, reporting hours later that the problem had been sorted.
“We’ve now fixed this issue. It impacted many Stories containing re-shared posts created yesterday and early this morning, plus Highlights + Archive more broadly. We’re sorry to all impacted, especially those raising awareness for important causes globally,” the company said at the time.
A spokesperson with Instagram told the BBC that its original content-favoring algorithm had a “bigger impact than expected” on some types of posts, but claimed that the outcome was an unintended side-effect of its policy rather than an attempt to censor activists.
Since the start of the recent protest movement against the Zionist regime’s planned expropriation of dozens of Palestinian homes in the occupied East al-Quds neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, pro-Palestinian activists and campaigners have complained that Instagram and other social media platforms are censoring content meant to spread awareness of the cause.
Earlier this month, hundreds of people shared screenshots of their suspended accounts and blank screens after they had shared posts related to the imminent displacement of Palestinian families living in the area.
In another development, a growing number of American labor unions have endorsed statements in solidarity with Palestinians, with some going as far as to adopt the call to boycott the Zionist regime over its human rights and international law violations, creating a growing divide with the national union leadership that has largely remained silent on the issue.
One of the most significant of these shows of support came from the United Educators of San Francisco (USEF), a union that represents 6,000 teachers in the San Francisco school system, which voted on 19 May to approve a resolution endorsing the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment (BDS) campaign - a non-violent initiative that encourages the censure of the Zionist regime’s violations of international law and human rights standards through various boycotts.