ALBAWABA - Mark Zuckerberg's Meta who owns Facebook and Instagram will start taking down posts from users attacking 'Zionists' across both platforms, the company confirmed on Tuesday, Jul. 9, 2024.
The change comes from Meta trying to target and stop "Hate speech content" including people attacking Zionists amid the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza that resulted in the killing and injuring of thousands of Palestinians including children since Oct. 7, 2023.
Why is Meta removing posts targeting Zionists?
Meta said in its blog post, "We will now remove speech targeting 'Zionists' in several areas where our process showed that the speech tends to be used to refer to Jews and Israelis with dehumanizing comparisons, calls for harm, or denials of existence."
The blog post was titled, "Update from the Policy Forum on our approach to ‘Zionist’ as a proxy for hate speech."
The company narrowed down what could be caused by hate speech:
- When Zionists are compared to rats (calling it "Antisemitic).
- Context makes clear that "Zionist" means 'Jew' or "Israeli.
It added that this came after feedback from several "global stakeholders."
Pro-Palestine users suspect that Meta is shadow-banning their accounts after trying to spread what's going on in Gaza with many accounts on Instagram and Facebook also being suspended or banned over "sharing sensitive content."
On Oct. 14, 2023, Independent news outlet Quds News Network claimed that Meta removed its page from social media platforms and accused Meta of alleging its views with the Israeli government, as reported by Aaj News.
All Eyes on Rafah and Gaza
Palestinians lose a house after an Israeli air strike on a house belonging to the Abu Dabaa family in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 14, 2023. (Shutterstock)
By the time of writing this article, the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, has resulted in the killing of more than 38,243 Palestinians of whom are children (not counting the ones buried under the rubble), as reported by the ministry of health in Gaza.
Additionally, at least 88,033 Palestinians since Oct. 7 were injured due to the constant bombardment from Israel leaving many Gazans homeless, displaced, and malnourished.
