Instagram, Twitter 'censor' Palestinian posts

Instagram and Twitter users had their accounts closed and content and hashtags blocked when mentioning 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'. 

A September 2022 report by independent, non-profit organisation Business for Social Responsibility (BRC) on Meta's moderation of Arabic and Hebrew posts found that Meta had unfairly targetted Palestinian social media users.