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Palestinians and left-wing activists protest during the Friday weekly demonstration in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, Jerusalem, February 18, 2022. (Oren Ziv/Activestills

Meta’s clampdown on Palestine speech is far from ‘unintentional’

A report on the social media giant validated Palestinian experiences of censorship in May 2021, but missed how those policies are biased by design.

By Marwa Fatafta October 9, 2022

Palestinian journalist Lama Ghosheh is led into a hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, accused of identification with a terrorist organization and incitement to violence because of Facebook posts, September 12, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

Israel indicts Palestinian journalist over ‘incitement’ in Facebook posts

Lama Ghosheh is currently under house arrest after becoming the latest casualty of Israel's anti-incitement laws targeting Palestinians.

By Oren Ziv September 13, 2022

Prominent Palestinian activist Muna el-Kurd and her brother Mohammed return to their home in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, after being detained and interrogated by Israeli police, June 6, 2021. (Oren Ziv/Activestills)

Who gets to speak out against their occupier on social media?

Social media giants are taking action to protect Ukrainians' free speech as they resist a military occupation. Why aren't they doing the same for Palestinians?

By Mona Shtaya March 22, 2022

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A digital mock-up of a keffiyeh in 3-D mesh. (Ameera Kawash)

The occupation enters the Metaverse

The advent of the Metaverse threatens to bring new forms of virtual exclusion and erasure for Palestinians trapped under Israel’s technological control.

By Ameera Kawash February 22, 2022

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Cybertech Israel Conference and Exhibition, in Tel Aviv, attended by thousands of leading multi-national corporates, SMB's, start-ups, private and corporate investors, venture capital firms, experts and clients. January 31, 2016. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Israeli colonialism goes digital

Israel's collaboration with tech companies has turned social media from a tool of free political speech to a means of censoring and repressing Palestinians.

By Anwar Mhajne May 25, 2021

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a tour in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 15, 2020. (Flash90)

Elections or not, the PA is intensifying its authoritarian rule online

The run-up to PA elections has alarmingly shown what Palestinian political activism is facing in the digital age: more surveillance, more repression.

By Marwa Fatafta April 29, 2021

Pro-Palestine activists protest outside Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, demanding the company does not change its hate speech policy to conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism, February 25, 2021. (Courtesy of Facebook, We Need To Talk Campaign)

Is Facebook about to crack down on criticism of Zionism?

Palestine advocates have long charged Facebook with suppressing criticism of Israel. Now they fear the company will escalate its censorship using a single keyword.

By Oren Ziv and Alex Kane March 25, 2021

A composite image showing fake testimonies in support of Benjamin Netanyahu, posted on Facebook. (Courtesy of The Seventh Eye

‘Leftists for Bibi’? Deepfake pro-Netanyahu propaganda exposed

According to a series of Facebook posts, the Israeli prime minister is winning over left-wing followers — except that none of the people in question exist.

By Itamar Benzaquen and The Seventh Eye August 12, 2020

A Palestinian youth holds a phone displaying WhatsApp in front of a computer with Facebook in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 26, 2014. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Anti-Palestinian incitement spikes online with Israeli election season

Violent, racist speech against Palestinians and Arabs was posted every 64 seconds on Israeli social media last year, new report finds.

By Ellie Stern March 12, 2020

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen taking a "selfie" with students before the start of the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on March 30, 2014. (Danny Meron/POOL/Flash90)

How Likud beats other parties at social media

From the ‘Bibi-bot’ to an election app, here’s how Netanyahu and Likud reach voters online.

By Yali (Yael) Marom and The Seventh Eye February 28, 2020

A Palestinian youth points to logos of Facebook and WhatsApp on his computer in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip February 22, 2014. (Photo Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

‘Incitement’ and ‘indecency’: How Palestinian dissent is repressed online

Censorship of Palestinian content by Israel, the PA, and Hamas is escalating at an unprecedented and dangerous speed.

By Marwa Fatafta December 4, 2019

A man reads a newspaper while floating in the Dead Sea. (Author unknown, WikiCommons)

Three easy ways to keep seeing +972 despite Facebook’s changes

Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere. But if you want to keep seeing the most important updates and analyses from +972, make sure you read this post. It only takes a few seconds. You may have heard, or even noticed, that Facebook is making major changes in what it shows you in your news feed…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man February 1, 2018

Human rights defender and computer networking pioneer Anriette Esterhuysen speaks at 7amleh's Palestine Digital Activism Forum, Ramallah, West Bank, January 18, 2018. (Courtesy of 7amleh)

Social media giants feel the heat at Palestinian digital conference

At the Palestine Digital Activism Forum, representatives from both Google and Facebook faced a crowd that demanded to know why the two companies cooperate with Israel’s attempts at silencing Palestinians. Not long after the Arab Spring began, social media companies rushed to embrace the popular narrative that their platforms had the potential to change societies and reform…

By Joshua Leifer January 18, 2018