Facebook to investigate repression against Palestinian content
Washington (QNN)- Facebook administration said it will allow an independent body to launch an investigation into content moderation of Arabic and Hebrew posts after the tech giant was accused of removing and suppressing pro-Palestine content, while allowing hate speech and incitement by Israelis.
“We have partnered with a non-profit organization expert in business and human rights, BSR, to conduct human rights due diligence of Facebook’s impacts during May-June’s intensified violence in Israel and Palestine,” Facebook said in a statement on Friday.
“BSR will examine relevant internal Facebook sources and engage with affected stakeholders. We will implement the board’s recommendation in our due diligence, defining and prioritising all salient human rights issues according to the guidance of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.”
Facebook also said that it will publicly communicate the results of the investigation in 2022. With offices around the world, BSR describes itself as an “organisation of sustainable business experts” that works with big business to “create a just and sustainable world”.
This comes after Facebook’s Oversight Board released a report earlier this year, calling for an independent body to investigate claims of content suppression relating to Palestine.
Activists and rights groups, including Human Rights Warch, had also accused the social media giant, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, of censoring Palestinians and supporters following the removal of pro-Palestinian posts.
Nearly 200 Facebook staff members also accused its systems of unfairly taking down or down-ranking pro-Palestine content before and during Israel’s latest offensive on Gaza.
A recent report by the Intercept has revealed a blacklist by Facebook, which included names of Palestinian citizens, officials, politicians, martyrs, detainees, charities, and organizations. Meanwhile, the list included zero Israelis.
