Twitter, Instagram 'censor' Palestinian posts during 11-day war

Instagram and Twitter closed users' accounts and blocked their content and relevant hashtags when they mentioned the possible eviction of Palestinians from East Jerusalem. During an 11-day war on the Gaza Strip in May 2021, users and journalists complained that Arabic language posts about Palestine was hit by hashtag removals and reshare blocks. Palestinian journalists also reported that their WhatsApp accounts had been blocked. Meantime, Hebrew content remained relatively unaffected. Human and digital rights groups complained that 'discriminatory' algorithms were likely to be at work, accused the social media companies of censorship, and demanded greater transparency. Both companies later reversed course and reinstated the relevant accounts and content. Twitter blamed automated spam filtering software; Instagram put the problem down to a 'technical bug'. System 🤖 Meta content moderation system Operator: Developer: Meta/Instagram; Twitter Country: Palestine; Israel Sector: Polit i cs Purpose: Moderate content Technology: C ontent moderation system Issue: Accuracy/reliability; Bias/discrimination; Freedom of expression Timeline ⏰ A report by i ndependent, non-profit organisation Business for Social Responsibility (BRC) found that Meta had unfairly targetted Palestinian social media users. Resource s 📃 Meta (2022). An Independent Due Diligence Exercise into Meta’s Human Rights Impact in Israel and Palestine During the May 2021 Escalation Investigations, assessments, audits 👁️ BSR (2022). Human Rights Due Diligence of Meta’s Impacts in Israel and Palestine

Date it happened

2021-05-01

Product, system or model

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