Washington, DC | www.adc.org | February 15, 2024 – ADC has partnered with a coalition of civil and human rights organizations in launching a petition demanding that Meta refuse to further censor the voices of those speaking up for Palestinian rights. We urge all of our members join us in signing the petition so that we can send an important message to Meta. Meta is considering a policy change that would label criticism of Zionism a a violation of their content policy.
The targeting of pro-Palestinian users and content has spiked since the events of October 7th, resulting in the removal of thousands of posts containing vital information from the ground in Gaza, as well as the removal of user accounts. Since December 30, ADC has received thousands reports of social media censorship and suppression.
As Palestinians in Gaza face plausible genocide (according to the International Court of Justice) it is disturbing that Meta is choosing this moment to consider a policy that would further silence criticism of the Israeli military, Israeli government, and Zionism by shutting down conversations involving the term “Zionist.” Meta is proposing to treat “Zionist” as a proxy for “Jew” or “Jewish”, which will further silence what is often the only way for Palestinians to tell their stories, document human rights abuses, and seek international solidarity during this time of utter horror.
ADC National Executive Director Abed Ayoub said, “We have been working day and night to fight the censorship by social media companies like Meta. The censorship has continued to impact an ever increasing number of accounts and users, and this proposed policy will almost certainly worsen the problem.”
Censorship of user accounts can happen in many ways, including limiting features a user can access. An example of this is not being able to comment on posts, or follow new people. Users with larger accounts are being prevented by Meta from collaborating with each other, using the live feature, and are also having their accounts demonetized.
This is one of many efforts ADC is taking to ensure that the U.S. government and private corporations are held accountable. To help ADC continue this and other efforts please consider making a contribution today.