The Digital Occupation: Social Media Censorship of Palestinian Content

Palestinians are increasingly turning to social media to highlight what life is like under Israeli military rule. For example, weeks before Israel’s bombing campaign on Gaza, Palestinian activists in Jerusalem used social media to shine a spotlight on Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Sheikh Jarrah community using the hashtag #SaveSheikhJarrah. What happened next, was a global movement for Palestine never seen before across social media platforms. During Israel’s bombing campaign, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok were removing, censoring, or deleting accounts that posted Palestinian content. 7amleh, a Palestinian non-profit focused on social media, has documented more than 500 reports of Palestinian digital rights violations in May alone, marking a significant increase in the censorship of Palestinian political speech and narrative online. To help us better understand what is happening, we are joined today by Marwa Fatafta, a policy analyst with Al-Shabaka. Host Diana Buttu spoke with MENA policy manager at Access Now and Policy Analyst at Al-Shabaka, Marwa Fatafta, about the digital oppression and censorship, Palestinians are facing in Israel and across social media platforms.