Around 200 Facebook employees signed an open letter last week urging the platform to address mounting criticism that it was censoring Palestinian content and suppressing pro-Palestinian voices.
The letter demanded that Facebook take measures to guarantee the equal treatment of pro-Palestinian content and ensure that such posts are not unfairly taken down or pushed lower in the feed.
It said: “As highlighted by employees, the press and members of Congress, and as reflected in our declining app store rating, our users and community at large feel that we are falling short on our promise to protect open expression around the situation in Palestine.
"As highlighted by employees, the press and members of Congress ... our users and community at large feel that we are falling short on our promise to protect open expression around the situation in Palestine"https://t.co/cME0cswyRR
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) June 2, 2021
We believe Facebook can and should do more to understand our users and work on rebuilding their trust.”
During the violence in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine, an overwhelming number of Palestinian-related posts were censored by social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Activists took to social media to spread awareness on what was happening in Palestine and found that their posts being taken down and their accounts deactivated.
Last Sunday, Facebook was the target of a coordinated social media campaign launched by pro-Palestine activists in an attempt to push down the Facebook app’s ranking on Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play.
NEW: Close to 200 Facebook employees have signed an open letter to leadership raising concerns that Pro-Palestine voices are being suppressed by its moderation systems
— Hannah Murphy (@MsHannahMurphy) June 1, 2021
It calls for measures (eg internal investigation & audit) to address the situation:https://t.co/sdP1TSJO1j
Launched in response to Facebook’s censorship of content supporting and promoting Palestine-related news, the campaign was successful in bringing down the platform’s rating to 1.9 stars on the App Store.
Meanwhile, after facing mounting accusations of censoring Palestinian content, Instagram announced on Monday that it would be making changes to the way it displays content.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
