NEW YORK – On
Wednesday, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) shed light on Meta’s content moderation
policies that have increasingly silenced voices in support of Palestine on
Instagram and Facebook in the wake of the war on Gaza. The HRW reported this
through its release of a 51-page analysis, “Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic
Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook.”
اضافة اعلان
Within the past two months, the HRW documented
over 1,050 post suspensions over Instagram and Facebook, as well as the
suppression of other content supporting of Palestinian human rights and calling
out the ongoing human rights violations. The findings show that over 60
countries face censorship of said content.
This stems from flawed Meta policies and their
inconsistent implementation, overreliance on automated tools to moderate
content, and undue government influence over content removals.
“Meta’s censorship of content in support of
Palestine adds insult to injury at a time of unspeakable atrocities and
repression already stifling Palestinians’ expression,” said Deborah Brown, a
senior researcher on digital rights at the HRW. “Social media is an essential
platform for people to bear witness and speak out against abuses while Meta’s
censorship is furthering the erasure of Palestinians’ suffering.”
The HRW identified six key patterns of Meta’s
censorship: the removal of posts, stories, and comments, suspension or
permanent disabling of accounts, restrictions on the ability to engage with
content such as liking, commenting, sharing, and reposting on stories,
restrictions to follow or tag accounts, preventing the use of
Instagram/Facebook Live and monetization features, and “shadow-banning” a term
meaning a significant decrease in the visibility of an individual’s posts,
stories, or account without notification due to a reduction in the distribution
of content or disabling searches for accounts.
The silencing of pro-Palestinian content and
accounts is justified by Meta’s algorithm as “a violation of Community
Guidelines,” misapplying its policies on violent and graphic content, violence
and incitement, hate speech, and nudity and sexual activity. It has also
inconsistently applied its “newsworthy allowance” policy, removing dozens of
pieces of content documenting Palestinian injury and death that has news value.
Meta reported that it is aware of its flawed
enforcement of these policies. However, this is not the first time the company
has turned a blind eye against its human rights negligence. For years, the
company has apologized for such crackdowns and promised to address it. In 2021,
the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem was attacked by the
Israeli occupation, which triggered protests and violence along with censorship
of pro-Palestine content on Facebook and Instagram. The HRW documented Meta’s
censorship at the time and warned that the company was “silencing many people
arbitrarily and without explanation.”
An independent investigation conducted by
Business for Social Responsibility and commissioned by Meta found that the
company’s content moderation in 2021 “appear[s] to have had an adverse human
rights impact on the rights of Palestinian users,” adversely affecting “the
ability of Palestinians to share information and insights about their
experiences as they occurred.”
In 2022, in response to the investigation’s
recommendations as well as guidance by Meta’s Oversight Board, Meta made a
commitment to make a series of changes to its policies and their enforcement in
content moderation. However, almost two years later, Meta has not carried out
its commitments, and the company has failed to meet its human rights
responsibilities and replicated past patterns of abuse.
The HRW shared its findings with Meta and in
response Meta cited its human rights responsibility and core human rights
principles as guiding its “immediate crisis response measures” since October 7.
Meta should permit protected expression on its
platforms, including documentation of human rights abuses and political
movements, the HRW reiterated. It should begin by overhauling its “dangerous
organizations and individuals” policy to make it consistent with international
human rights standards, ensuring that it does not remove content that is in the
public interest. The company should improve transparency around requests by
governments’ internet referral units, including Israel’s Cyber Unit, to remove
content “voluntarily” - that is without a court or administrative order to do
so.
“Instead of tired apologies and empty
promises, Meta should demonstrate that it is serious about addressing
Palestine-related censorship once and for all by taking concrete steps toward
transparency and remediation,” Brown said.
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