Mainstream social media platforms stand accused of suppressing the Palestinian cause in the digital space. Content is often removed under the guise of rooting out disinformation. [Picture: Creative Pixel Magazine]
When the first visuals of Hamas descending on occupied Palestine emerged that fateful Saturday afternoon, social media platforms were abuzz with the latest developments on the ground.
The proliferation of social media has added a new dimension to the battle between Hamas, a resistance (and not terrorist) movement, and Israel, an occupier, an apartheid regime (and not the Middle East’s sole ‘democracy’). The carefully curated, agenda-driven narrative of the past eight decades is under threat, since citizen journalists have begun to question whether they should blindly accept the media they’re fed.
In many ways, it has become far easier to get real-time information, unfiltered and uncensored, from citizens than through the regulated mainstream media. As Israel’s war escalated, so too did an information war.
Social media is a threat to the narrative that has for so long buoyed the legitimacy of Israel in the minds of people. No surprise, then, that some of the biggest social media platforms have launched an unprecedented crackdown on ‘misinformation’ about the situation in Palestine.
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Silencing
Many activists and advocates for the cause, in Palestine and abroad, have been silenced for pressing the wrong buttons. A South African internet personality, Nikita Lexi Scoble, was one of many who took to TikTok to express concern over apparent censorship on other major platforms.
“Instagram is literally trying to censor any outcry from people on behalf of Palestine,” she said, before noting how her audience on Instagram dwindled since she started posting pro-Palestine content on that platform.
“This is how Instagram is literally trying to silence me, by only showing my content to not even a quarter of the amount of people that I am usually able to attract and usually am able to show any of my thoughts to,” she lamented.
@sunnybunny_hunny Silencing us not going to stop us from spreading awareness of the injustice. #fyp #foryoupage #tiktoksa #tiktoksouthafrica #palestine🇵🇸 #istandwithpalestine #instagram ♬ original sound – lexi
Crackdown
On Friday, Meta, parent company to Instagram, buckled under pressure from the European Union (EU). It announced it would take steps, among others, to remove substantive support and praise for Hamas. In three days, Meta said it removed or marked as disturbing more than 795,000 pieces of content in Hebrew or Arabic, reported Reuters.
Meanwhile, TikTok has a mild contrast to its Western counterparts, at least for now. The Chinese-owned platform, popular among Gen-Z, has remained something like a safe community for the expression of pro-Palestine sentiment. Although users are seeing far less than they did in previous years, many content creators have taken to the platform to vent about censorship on others. The Palestinian cause still has a voice on the platform.
Reacting to the EU’s letter urging social media platforms to crackdown on disinformation, the platform insisted it “stands against terrorism”.
“We are shocked and appalled by the horrific acts of terror in Israel last week … We are also deeply saddened by the intensifying humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. Our hearts break for everyone who has been affected,” it said.
Some of the main focuses of the social media platform was “supporting free expression, upholding our commitment to human rights, and protecting our platform during the Israel-Hamas war”.
YouTube, perhaps, has been at the forefront of the crackdown. Last week, Salaamedia aired an interview titled ‘#PalestineUnderAttack – The unprecedented struggle and brutal siege of #Gaza #Hamas’. The Google-owned platform’s reviewers were quick to act, and now the link directs one to a notice that it “violated” community guidelines. In which world would, say, CNN, BBC or the like, be censored in this way?
What was made clear during the 2021 Israeli onslaught against Palestinians, and confirmed during the current bombardment of Gaza, was that social media giants have picked a side. This, under the guise of preventing ‘disinformation’. It’s credible when we do it, it’s disinformation when you do. The battle has entered the digital space.
