Leaked Data Reveals Massive Campaign to Remove Pro-Palestine Posts
7 days ago
- #Meta
- #censorship
- #Israel-Palestine
- Leaked data reveals Israel's massive campaign to remove pro-Palestine posts on Facebook and Instagram, with Meta complying with 94% of takedown requests since October 7, 2023.
- Israel is the largest originator of takedown requests globally, targeting users from Arab and Muslim-majority nations to silence criticism of its policies.
- Meta's automated systems removed over 90,000 posts in an average of 30 seconds per request, expanding censorship to an estimated 38.8 million additional posts.
- Internal Meta leadership, including former Israeli officials, plays a key role in enforcing censorship policies, with pro-Palestine content disproportionately targeted.
- Human Rights Watch found that 1,049 out of 1,050 removed or suppressed posts were peaceful pro-Palestine content, highlighting systemic bias in enforcement.
- Meta's policies and AI moderation systems are influenced by Israeli government requests, shaping future content moderation decisions based on past takedowns.
- Israel's censorship efforts focus overwhelmingly on users outside its borders, with only 1.3% of takedown requests targeting Israeli users.
- Whistleblowers reveal Meta's failure to curb Israel's aggressive censorship tactics, instead facilitating the government's mass censorship campaign.
- The article critiques the broader implications of corporate censorship, questioning legal protections for free speech and foreign influence on social media platforms.