[News] Social media suppresses up to 80% pro-Palestine content

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201224-social-media-suppresses-up-to-80-pro-palestine-content/ 
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201224-social-media-suppresses-up-to-80-pro-palestine-content/> 



  Social media suppresses up to 80% pro-Palestine content

December 24, 2020
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Palestinian social media posts have been suppressed by as much as 80 per 
cent, a new study by Sada Social Centre has found. Details of the 
worrying scale of this anti-Palestinian censorship was uncovered by the 
NGO which monitors social media content related to Palestine and 
campaigns for free expression.

Experts spoken to by the organisation said that the sudden increase in 
the suppression of content follows the normalisation of some Arab 
countries with Israel in recent months. Sadia's finding confirm those of 
ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies. In June 
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200608-facebook-accused-of-blocking-palestinian-activists-accounts/>, 
the London-based think tank discovered that Facebook had blocked 
accounts belonging to Palestinian activists, bloggers and journalists, 
violating their right to voice opinions freely.

Palestinians have for years complained that Facebook is targeting their 
accounts 
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191020-the-war-on-truth-how-israels-social-media-trolls-conquered-facebook/>, 
deleting them without notice 
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191011-facebook-takes-down-page-of-palestine-news-site/>. 
The latest suspicions about content suppression were raised when Sada 
was inundated with complaints from Palestinians and Arabs with accounts 
onFacebook regarding a sharp drop of between 50 and 80 per cent in the 
number of people accessing their posts. Most of the people who 
complained are said to have millions of followers on social media.

An investigation revealed that these platforms were publishing content 
only in Arabic that highlighted the normalisation of Arab countries with 
the Zionist state. Social media experts confirmed that the suppression 
was planned and orchestrated. Apparently this can be done relatively 
easily through the management of data algorithms in Facebook, which 
isn't always easy to detect.

A list of Palestinian media agencies 
<http://sada.social/45-violations-against-palestinian-digital-content-during-january-2020/> 
which experienced content suppression was published by Sada Social 
Centre earlier this year when it identified 45 cases of content 
suppression in a single month. While Facebook is said to be the most 
frequent offender,Tik Tok also censors Palestine-related content. The 
organisation has asked Facebook to clarify why this is happening.

It is also calling on international human rights bodies to follow up on 
this issue and speak out against the threat it poses to freedom of 
expression.

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