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... the undersigned digital and human rights organizations, join theopen call for an immediate ceasefire to end the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza, to halt a humanitarian catastrophe, and to prevent further loss of innocent lives in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, and beyond. We further call on governments, international institutions, tech companies, and other international stakeholders to take responsibility for their actions which have enabled and abetted Israel’s unrestrained and indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Gaza.. This includes upholding a “digital ceasefire” to bring an immediate end to online attacks targeting Palestinians around the world.
Globally, Palestinian voices and those who support their cause have been muffled and silenced through a wide campaign of digital repression, including disinformation, censorship,online harassment,doxxing, andshadowbanning.
... social media companies have so far failed to address the alarming levels of disinformation and misinformation on their platforms, which are contributing to offline violence, dehumanization, and justifying attacks against civilians. Paired with inequitable, biased over-enforcement of content moderation policies, this is resulting in the silencing and deplatforming of Palestinians.
All parties to the conflict must:
Immediately cease the indiscriminate targeting of civilian infrastructure, including medical, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure, and, more broadly, halt the use of explosive weapons in urban areas;
Take all feasible precautions to protect civilians and refrain from indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks;
Protect the physical and digital safety, dignity, and integrity of anyone deprived of liberty and under their control –including protection from public curiosity on social media and other communication channels – and refrain from using disinformation campaigns;
Ensure that all persons deprived of liberty without due process are allowed to return safely to their families – including through the assistance of neutral intermediaries such as the ICRC, who have been offering their support through traditional channels and publicly on social media; and
Uphold and demonstrate through actions their adherence to international humanitarian law.
Private sector actors must:
Adhere and uphold their responsibilities to respect human rights and mitigate any risks or negative impacts of their policies, actions, and services, as per the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and publicly and consistently communicate steps taken to ensure continued respect for human rights;
Expand and include in their heightened due diligence efforts all potential areas of their business, including, for example, reviewing customers’ purchasing of targeted advertising services in the region and elsewhere for propaganda purposes;
Take measures to further protect the accounts and data of users from hacking, surveillance, censorship, and other threats, and to strengthen infrastructure against unlawful access;
Ensure complete transparency of received government requests — both on the basis of the law or the terms and conditions — submitted by the Israeli public authorities, including the Cyber Unit. At a minimum, disclose the type of content enforcement; and data regarding the amount of content removed in Arabic, and compliance rate with government requests, including legal basis for restrictions;
Clearly communicate to users any limitations, restrictions, or changes to service they may experience;
Provide transparency with respect to where machine learning systems are being used to moderate content related to Palestine and Israel, including indicators of the accuracy, the possible rate of error, and machine learning classifiers;
Provide information about parameters used by content recommender systems with explanations for why certain information is shown to individuals, including the most important criteria for determining what information will be shown to whom;
Fully investigate any cyber attacks that undermine human rights, and limit the reach of state and non-state sponsored propaganda actors and the spread of disinformation with any restriction being in compliance with the rule of law and the principles legality, legitimacy, necessity, and proportionality;
Preserve and be prepared to openly share, where possible, documentation of violence, for potential future efforts to hold people accountable for violating humanitarian law and human rights violations and ensure victims’ access to remedy; and
For investors and financial institutions linked to businesses operating in the region, hold these businesses accountable for full transparency on their business conduct and the above requirements.
According to a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Meta has allegedly censored pro-Palestinian views systematically and globally. The report documents over a thousand instances of content removal from more than 60 countries, highlighting Meta's inconsistent policy enforcement and reliance on automated tools.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren has demanded answers from Mark Zuckerberg regarding allegations of Meta censoring pro-Palestinian content. Citing concerns from human rights groups and media reports, Warren seeks clarification on moderation practices and recent incidents, with a response deadline of January 5, 2024.
Prominent disinformation researcher Dr. Joan Donovan accuses Meta of influencing Harvard to terminate her research project on media manipulation. Donovan alleges Harvard bowed to pressure after a Chan Zuckerberg Initiative donation, impacting her work and academic freedom.
Meta's Oversight Board will address its first emergency cases involving posts on the Israel-Palestine ongoing conflict. The board will evaluate Meta's crisis response and the implementation of the board's more recent recommendations and the company's commitments. The decisions expected within 30 days may prompt Meta to reassess its approach to handling conflicts on its platform.
According to a Wired report, Palestinians are excluded from Google's online economy. The YouTube Partner Program is unavailable in Palestine, hindering economic opportunities and sparking allegations of discrimination.
7amleh, a civil society organization, reportedly tested Meta's content moderation standards on Facebook, revealing the alleged approval of paid ads containing hate speech and incitement of violence against Palestinians. The failure of Facebook's automated moderation process raises concerns about Meta's ability to curb harmful content targeting Palestinians.
A new report from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) reveals that X is failing to adequately moderate antisemitic and islamophobic hate speech amid the Israel-Palestine conflict. The study indicates a significant portion of hate speech remains online, including posts inciting violence and promoting conspiracy theories.
According to a recent article by Mona Shtaya, Meta's platforms allegedly normalize anti-Palestinian racism, contributing to dehumanization and violence. She emphasizes that Meta's reluctance to safeguard its users perpetuates anti-Palestinian racism.
Adobe receives criticism for selling AI-generated images that may be contributing to misinformation about the ongoing conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. AI-generated images should be clearly labeled as such, but reporters have uncovered that this is not always happening, further polluting an already murky online information environment.
According to a recent report by The Guardian, WhatsApp's AI sticker generator has produced racist images against Palestinians, including gun-wielding children, in response to searches related to 'Palestinian' or 'Palestine,' in contrast to other explicit terms searched on the generator. Australian Senator Mehreen Faruqi is calling for an investigation into the racist and Islamophobic imagery produced by Meta.
7amleh launched a report on the Palestinian digital rights situation since October 7, 2023. The report emphasizes the urgent need for tech companies and international action. It highlights disturbing trends observed on online platforms due to the communications blackout in Gaza. Furthermore, the report includes violations resulting from Israeli government actions based on social media activity.
Following the anti-Semitic airport rampage in the Dagestan Region in Russia, Telegram announced a ban on channels that incite anti-Semitic riots in Dagestan.
Morning Dagestan, a Telegram channel, has allegedly been linked to inciting an anti-Semitic airport rampage in Russia. Crowds followed its instructions, resulting in injuries and a breach of security at the airport.
A recent Reuters report reveals that pro-Israel graphic ads have been observed in video games across Europe. According to the report, the ad videos, which carried footage of rocket attacks, a fiery explosion, and masked gunmen, have been shown to gamers, including several children.
As reported by The Guardian, Meta faces allegations of locking a prominent Pro-Palestinian Instagram account for 'security concerns.' The digital rights group 7amleh claims that it has documented 238 recent censorship cases across Meta's platforms and alleges that there is a troubling pattern of silencing Palestinian voices while permitting hate speech and incitement to violence against Palestinians.
According to a study from NewsGuard, 74% of the most viral posts promoting misinformation about the Israel-Hamas conflict during its first week were spread by X Premium accounts.
According to a recent article on the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) website, during the Israel and the OPT conflict, social media companies have displayed disparities in their response to protect users, particularly in contrast to measures taken for users in the Global North. TIMEP urges stakeholders to pressure companies for more equitable digital protection measures and increased investment in safeguarding users.
In response to the Israeli Defense Forces' request, Apple has disabled live traffic data in Israel and Gaza, following similar actions by Google and Waze. This move eliminates traffic tracking options in the region, raising concerns about implications for grassroots movements.
Growing concerns among homeland security experts in the United States over the spread of extremist ideologies during the Israel-Hamas war through hateful online rhetoric. The increase in hate speech and incitement speech put leaders in the Arab and Jewish communities in the U.S. on high alert.
Digital and human rights organisations joined the open call for an immediate ceasefire to end the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza, to halt a humanitarian catastrophe, and to prevent further loss of innocent lives in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, and beyond. The organisations further called on governments, international institutions, tech companies, and other international stakeholders to take responsibility for their actions.
Meta has apologised after inserting the word “terrorist” into the profile bios of some Palestinian Instagram users, in what the company says was a bug in auto-translation.
The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) released a commentary piece, exploring the responsibilities media companies bear during times of conflict, including traditional and social media companies. According to IHBR, media companies have human rights responsibilities, requiring heightened due diligence during this context to ensure information accuracy and protect vulnerable populations.
Users allege that posts and accounts, including media accounts, supportive of Palestinians on Facebook and Instagram, owned by Meta are being suppressed, removed or hidden. Company responded by stating that some of the posts were affected because of an accidental bug or technical difficulties and that some posts are temporarily supressed as it enacts measures to deal with a high number of reports of graphic content.
Instagram and Facebook users allege censorship of Gaza hospital bombing image, despite past policies supporting newsworthy content. As reported by The Intercept, users claim that the supression or restriction on content is based on sexual or nudity grounds.
Following the escalation of the recent conflict, Israel intensified its online campaign using graphic content on social media ads on X and YouTube to shape global opinion.
Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil society organisation called on tech companies to better handle misinformation during conflict and set forth specific recommendations in the context of the conflict in Gaza.
The Arab Center Washington DC warns about the alarming surge in disinformation and hate speech on social media platforms. According to the civil society organization, these contents fuel war crimes against Gaza and the silence of Palestinian voices.
According to reports, disinformation has proliferated on the social media platforms X and TikTok since the militant Islamist group Hamas initiated its attack on Israel. The civil society organization 7amleh argues that this phenomenon results in Palestinian narratives being censored or not heard and leads to further calls for violence.
