WEST BANK (Middle East Eye) – Palestinian activists and journalists have launched a campaign called “Facebook Censors Al-Quds” to raise awareness about Meta’s efforts to censor Palestinian content on its flagship social media platform Facebook, according to a press release by Sada Social, a non-profit focusing on the digital rights of Palestinians.
The campaign comes after a wave of allegations against Meta, which is believed to have restricted or blocked pages that belonged to Palestinian journalists, activists and people on its social media platforms.
The lion’s share of the accusations came in May, after threatened expulsions in Al-Quds’ Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, the storming by Zionist troops of Al-Aqsa Mosque, an 11-day offensive in Gaza, and intercommunal violence in Palestinian-majority cities in the occupied territories.
“FBCensorsAl-Quds” hashtag to support Palestinians who have been restricted on social media platforms. It is also denouncing Meta’s “double standards policy” when it comes to Palestinian and Zionist content.
“While [Meta] is escalating its crackdown on the Palestinian narrative under flimsy pretexts, it does not lift a finger about the Israeli incitement, which calls for the killing and apprehension of Palestinians, especially after the recent incident at the Chain Gate in occupied Al-Quds,” read the campaign’s statement.
The social media platform’s algorithms have been removing posts that contain words like “Hamas” or “martyr” without taking into consideration their contextual meaning, experts say.