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‘Digital platforms amplify Israel’s narrative while systematically silencing Palestinian voices’ — Global Issues

  • by CIVICUS
  • Inter Press Service

As the director of Skyline International for Human Rights, Dima advocates for digital freedom and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He is a board member of Innovation for Change, the MENA Hub, and Surveillance in the Majority World Network, and volunteers with Resilience Pathways, which helps Palestinian civil society organizations (CSOs) restore accountability amid Israel’s efforts to manipulate public opinion. , to block funding. and restrict public space.

How are digital platforms influencing the Palestinian narrative?

Digital platforms have become key to shaping the narrative about Palestine, often amplifying the Israeli narrative while systematically silencing Palestinian voices. Platforms like Meta, TikTok and X, formerly Twitter, often remove Palestinian content under vague ‘policy violations’. This has intensified since October 2023, when the Israel Cyber ​​​​Unit issued more than 9,500 demotion requests, 94 percent of which were approved. These actions have led to the removal of posts, shadow bans – a type of censorship that limits the visibility of pro-Palestine content without the user’s notice – and account suspensions, and have reached the censorship of hashtags such as #FreePalestine.

Algorithmic bias also marginalizes the Palestinian narrative. For example, Instagram once misinterpreted the Arabic phrase ‘alhamdulillah’ – praise be to God – next to a Palestinian flag as ‘terrorists fighting for their freedom’. On WhatsApp, AI-generated images showed scenes of soldiers as ‘Palestine’ illustrations but incorrect animations of words like ‘Israeli boy’ or ‘Israeli army’. Although these incidents are often dismissed as technical errors, they reveal systemic biases.

Policies such as Meta’s Dangerous Organizations and Individual Framework are heavily influenced by US terrorism designations and restrict Palestinian expression by prohibiting expressions of ‘praise’ or ‘support’ for major political organizations. Meanwhile, hate speech directed at Palestinians – including posts glorifying violence or calling for the destruction of Gaza – is often ignored. While advertisements inciting violence against the Palestinian people are allowed, the use of words such as ‘Zionist’ is marked as hate speech. These dual conditions silence Palestinian voices while enabling propaganda that justifies collective punishment and shields atrocities from scrutiny.

The relevance of the field is beyond research. In April, +972 Magazine reported that WhatsApp, owned by Meta, was involved in supporting Israel’s AI surveillance program Lavender, which has been linked to the killing of civilians in Gaza. These disturbing revelations suggest the company’s direct involvement in violating international law.

Digital platforms distort the news, humiliate the Palestinian people and perpetrate violence against an already oppressed and besieged population. They actively suppress efforts to document war crimes and exploit information. They must answer for this.

What challenges does the Palestinian community face?

Palestinian CSOs work under great pressure, facing arbitrary arrests, travel bans, funding cuts and violence. In October 2021, Israel designated six prominent Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organizations. These baseless allegations legitimized their work, fueled smear campaigns and allowed harassment and other restrictions on their work.

Many human rights defenders have also become victims of digital surveillance. The Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli company NSO Group, has been used to hack the tools of Palestinian activists and human rights defenders, putting their security and work at risk. This surveillance has been heavily criticized by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

But the deterioration of Palestinian society goes beyond digital tactics: human rights defenders are harassed, arbitrarily arrested and physically attacked. In Gaza, the situation has worsened after October 2023. Several civil servants have been killed, injured or imprisoned, and many have been displaced due to the ongoing bombardment. The destruction of infrastructure has once again disrupted their work.

Journalists also face violence. Gaza has become the deadliest place for journalists in the world, with 195 media workers killed so far, most of them deliberately targeted while doing their job. This loss of independent reporting creates a huge information gap, leaving human rights violations unreported and unprevented.

To make matters worse, international donors such as Germany, Sweden and Switzerland have suspended funding over unsubstantiated allegations of links to terrorism. The European Union’s imposition of ‘anti-incitement’ clauses further stigmatizes Palestinian CSOs by forcing them to prove their neutrality, limiting their ability to document human rights violations without jeopardizing their security.

How does Skyline International help address these challenges?

We work at the intersection of technology, social media and human rights in Palestine and the region. We track, monitor and document human rights violations by states and companies, especially in the digital sector. This includes tracking digital surveillance, analyzing the implications of AI principles in conflict settings and advocating for the protection of fundamental online rights such as freedom of expression, access to information and the right to privacy.

In Palestine, we support civil society activists and journalists against internet censorship and digital bias. We work closely with human rights defenders to document cases of excessive use of policies, content reduction, account suspensions and algorithmic bias by social networks, as well as the illegal use of spyware and new technologies to target media workers. We also condemn Israel’s use of digital tools to target journalists in Gaza and Lebanon. Our aim is to draw national and international attention to this violation of the law and to advocate for the protection of freedom of the press and freedom on the Internet, ensuring that journalists are able to report without fear of retribution.

We also hold technology companies accountable for their impact on human rights. In September, for example, we sent an open letter to Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange, expressing serious concern about the alleged massive seizure of Palestinian crypto wallets at the request of Israel. These actions exacerbate the economic and financial blockade of Gaza, making it even more difficult to access essential services such as water, food and medical supplies. We demanded transparency about the criteria used to determine which accounts were suspended and immediate action to minimize the humanitarian impact on Palestinian users. Although Binance responded, it did not provide a clear explanation or take any action.

What can the international community do to support the Palestinian people?

Support for Palestinian civil service is essential in documenting abuses and advocating for justice. But this support should go beyond expressions of solidarity or charity. We need our partners to support our struggle for freedom and dignity.

The international community must move beyond empty rhetoric and take concrete action. It must also do more than just provide financial aid: it must put political pressure on Israel to end its occupation and respect the rights of the Palestinian people. This includes protecting activists, countering Israel’s ongoing efforts to criminalize and silence our work and holding accountable those who profit from the ongoing genocide. It means halting arms exports to Israel and holding technology platforms accountable for complicity in suppressing Palestinian voices, amplifying hate speech and facilitating Israeli surveillance and repression.

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BECAUSE
Palestine: ‘The international community has failed to stop the genocide, not because it can’t, but because it won’t’ Interview with Tahreer Araj 26.Nov.2024

‘AI-powered weapons reduce violence, make it easier for militaries to authorize more destruction’ Interview with Sophia Goodfriend 23.Nov.2024

Palestine: ‘Ending impunity for Palestinian human rights violations’ will strengthen global norms that protect all humanity’ Interview with Kifaya Khraim 11.Nov.2024

© Inter Press Service (2025) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service




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