Middle East Eye reports:

Meta’s policy of censorship is having a “devastating” impact on Palestinians, according to a new report by a prominent Arab media watchdog.

The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, also known as 7amleh, collected 20 first-hand testimonies from Palestinian influencers, journalists and media outlets who have experienced the tech conglomerate’s discriminatory practices.

Since October 2023, with the start of Israel’s assault on Gaza, Meta has been accused of censoring Palestinian content and groups on Facebook and Instagram, two of the social media platforms it owns.

The testimonies collected by 7amleh highlight the closure and shadow-banning of community pages, local media outlets and influencer accounts, leading to a steep decline in engagement.

According to 7amleh, more than 15 million posts in Hebrew inciting against Palestinians have been documented across social media platforms since October 2023.

Yahya Alsayed, a manager of the Ask Jerusalem community group, which provides information for Jerusalem-based Palestinians, said the page was first suspended for a year in 2021 following the attempted evictions in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

Even after the group was restored, he said they continued to be shadow-banned and their audience interaction dwindled.

Another media outlet, Arabs48, said they had faced repeated restrictions over the past year. [Continue reading…]