jargert ellberte bairde
Ilario Grijalva
Between October and November 2023, Human Rights Watch documented over 1,050 takedowns and other suppression of content Instagram and Facebook that had been posted by Palestinians and their supporters, including about human rights abuses. Human Rights Watch publicly solicited cases of any type of online censorship and of any type of viewpoints related to Israel and Palestine. Of the 1,050 cases reviewed for this report, 1,049 involved peaceful content in support of Palestine that was censored or otherwise unduly suppressed, while one case involved removal of content in support of Israel. The documented cases include content originating from over 60 countries around the world, primarily in English, all of peaceful support of Palestine, expressed in diverse ways. This distribution of cases does not necessarily reflect the overall distribution of censorship. Hundreds of people continued to report censorship after Human Rights Watch completed its analysis for this report, meaning that the total number of cases Human Rights Watch received greatly exceeded 1,050.
This report builds on and complements years of research, documentation, and advocacy by Palestinian, regional, and international human rights and digital rights organizations, in particular 7amleh, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, and Access Now.
In addition, in over 300 cases documented by Human Rights Watch, users reported and provided evidence of being unable to appeal the restriction on their account to the platform, which left the user unable to report possible platform violations and without any access to an effective remedy.
Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), companies have a responsibility to avoid infringing on human rights, identify and address the human rights impacts of their operations, and provide meaningful access to a remedy to those whose rights they abused. For social media companies, including Meta, this responsibility includes aligning their content moderation policies and practices with international human rights standards, ensuring that decisions to take down content are transparent and not overly broad or biased, and enforcing their policies consistently.
Human Rights Watch solicited cases of any type of online censorship and of any type of viewpoint related to Israel and Palestine. Of the 1,050 cases reviewed for this report, 1,049 cases documented involved examples of online censorship and suppression of content in support of Palestine, while one case contained an example of removal of content in support of Israel.[2] This distribution of cases does not necessarily reflect the overall distribution of censorship.
The researchers reviewed all 1,285 reports of online censorship received via email by November 28, 2023, either in response to our solicitation or spontaneously submitted. We excluded cases in which there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the claim of censorship or that or that did not include content about Israel or Palestine. We also screened evidence for any speech that could be considered incitement to violence, discrimination, or hostility by evaluating the content of the post, the context around the post (other comments, media, etc.) and additional information provided by the person who reported the censorship, and notifications from Meta. The researchers used a combination of evidence provided by the user including screenshots and background material in the email and publicly available information to assess whether the claim of unjustified restrictions on their content or account by Meta was substantiated. If the researchers did not have enough information to fully assess the context of the post to confirm that the content was peaceful support for Palestine or Palestinians, we excluded the case.
Most reports received and evidence documented by Human Rights Watch were about postings on Instagram and Facebook (with fewer overall instances being reported about X, TikTok, and other platforms). Meta platforms (Instagram and Facebook) have had high usage rates, both in response to hostilities in Israel and Palestine since October 7 as well as historically. Facebook and Instagram each have the highest usage rates, with over 3 billion and over 2.3 billion monthly active users respectively, compared to other platforms such as X (close to 400 million), Telegram (over 800 million), and TikTok (over 1 billion), as of 2023.[4]
The researchers anonymized all the information social media users shared with Human Rights Watch, and assured the people who reported their experiences that none of their information would be shared or published without their explicit and informed consent. None of the participants in the research received any compensation.
Against this backdrop, the broader environment for free expression about Palestine is under increasing pressure. While the focus of this report is censorship of social media content, online censorship does not exist in a vacuum. On November 23, 2023, United Nations experts issued a statement expressing alarm at a worldwide wave of attacks, reprisals, criminalization, and sanctions against those who publicly express solidarity with the victims of the hostilities between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups.[12] The experts noted that artists, academics, journalists, activists, and athletes have faced particularly harsh consequences and reprisals from states and private actors because of their prominent roles and visibility.[13] Protecting free expression on issues related to Israel and Palestine is especially important considering the shrinking space for discussion.[14]
Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza have also clamped down on free expression,[19] while in several other countries, including the United States and across Europe, governments and private entities have taken steps to restrict the space for some forms of advocacy in support of Palestine.
Since October 7, 2023, artists, cultural workers, and academics in various countries have faced significant consequences in the form of silencing, censorship, and intimidation by some governments and private institutions as a result of non-violent, pro-Palestinian speech. [20] These include undue pressure or restrictions on academic freedom,[21] and Palestinian experts being disinvited from media interviews and conferences.[22] There have also been restrictions on peaceful protests in support of Palestine.[23] The punishing tactics against those expressing solidarity with Palestinians or criticizing Israeli war crimes in Gaza pose serious challenges to freedom of expression in a time of crisis and polarization over events on and since October 7.
In response to recommendations from the Oversight Board, the BSR report, and engagement with civil society over the years, Meta made several commitments to addressing concerns around Palestine-related censorship. However, the evidence of censorship and suppression of content about, and in support of, Palestinians and their supporters that Human Rights Watch documents in this report stems from the same underlying concerns that surfaced in 2021 and earlier, and shows that Meta has not delivered on the promises it made two years ago.
Meta also committed, in 2021, to provide greater transparency to users around its enforcement actions, including limiting certain features and reducing the visibility of accounts during user online searches, and communicating enforcement actions clearly. Yet, a largely recurrent complaint Human Rights Watch received in researching this report was that users lost account features without warning.
The documented cases include content originating from over 60 countries around the world, primarily in English,[61] which carried a diversity of messages while sharing a singular characteristic: peaceful expression in support of Palestine or Palestinians.
Instagram and Facebook have in several instances since October 7 suspended or permanently disabled the accounts of prominent Palestinian content creators, independent Palestinian journalists, and Palestinian activists. Palestinian journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin reported on November 18, 2023 that he lost access five times to his Instagram account, which has nearly one million followers, since October 7. Shihab-Eldin posts frequently about Palestine.[83] He said that he was not able to access the tool that allows him to see potential account violations, and that other users, when trying to tag him in a post, received a warning message that his account had repeatedly posted false information or contravened Community Guidelines.[84]
Human Rights Watch documented hundreds of cases where Meta applied the DOI policy with the effect of suppressing peaceful speech on issues related to hostilities between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups.[94] Because the peaceful content was erroneously restricted, the standard Meta responses were inevitably disproportionate.
Civil society and the Oversight Board recommended that Meta make public the list of organizations and entities it has designated as dangerous, but Meta has refused to do so, citing employee safety and a concern that doing so would permit banned entities to circumvent the policy. The Intercept published a leaked version of the list in October 2021.[104]
Meta platforms host images, videos, and posts from news outlets, independent journalists, and other sources from conflict zones. At times, this media may include violent and graphic content, hate speech, or nudity. Although Meta policy prohibits violent and graphic content,[114] hate speech,[115] violence and incitement,[116] and nudity and sexual activity,[117] the company makes an exception[118] if it deems the content to be newsworthy and in the service of public interest.
Some users who reported cases to Human Rights Watch explained that their posts sought to speak out against violence, not incite it. By stripping the content of context and bluntly applying its policies, Meta is effectively censoring newsworthy content and achieving the opposite outcome of the stated intention of its policies.
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