Social Media Policies as Part of Israeli Genocide War in Gaza

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- During May and June, Sada Social Center tracked digital data that clearly indicates an increase in digital violations on social media platforms on one hand, and Israel’s continued use of the digital arena as one of the weapons of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, including violations on the privacy and data of Palestinian users.

Sada Social Center is a Palestinian digital rights organization launched in 2017 to protect Palestinian narratives on social media platforms.

Even Massacres Subjected to Digital Genocide

In May and June, Sada Social documented a new attempt to digitally prevent the exposure of Israel’s genocide crimes in the Gaza Strip. Meta’s platforms removed more than 130 posts containing images and scenes documenting the “Tents Massacre” carried out by Israeli forces on May 26, 2024, against displaced civilians in Rafah.

Following the Al-Nuseirat Camp massacre on June 8, 2024, the policy of deleting content documenting the crime was repeated. Sada Social recorded 86 complaints about the removal of videos and images documenting the massacre committed by Israeli forces against civilians in the central Gaza Strip.

Sada Social emphasizes the serious implications of deleting documentary clips at a time when Israel is facing international accusations of genocide. Legal teams rely on visual documentary materials on social media platforms as essential evidence to present their legal arguments. This has been indisputably proven in previous hearings at the International Court of Justice during the ongoing case.

Data of Users at Risk

Sada Social indicates that social media platforms continued their digital bias against the Palestinian narrative and engaged in digital violations during May and June. This was demonstrated by over 1,300 digital violations on various platforms, including 23 cases of blocking of WhatsApp user numbers.

This represents a violation of privacy and the encrypted conversations that Meta’s WhatsApp is known for, which supposedly prevent even the owning company from viewing users’ data and the messages sent and received through the app.

Sada Social monitored real concerns over the past month about the possibility of the Israeli army obtaining WhatsApp user data in Gaza and using it to feed the Lavender AI system, which it uses to kill Palestinians in Gaza. Subsequent reports indicated a security vulnerability in the Meta-owned app that allows access to user data.

Israeli Blackmail

During the period of the report, Sada Social followed up reports indicating that Israeli security agencies leaked personal information and data of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, using it to blackmail civilians by threatening to publish personal photos and information if they did not cooperate.

According to the reports reviewed by the center, the occupation blackmailed Palestinians in Gaza by threatening to publish their personal details and gender identity information, defaming them, inciting them against each other, and publishing personal information of several civilians under the pretext that they “spied on other Gazans” for Hamas.

This coincided with the Israeli occupation army dropping leaflets from the air in various places in Gaza, containing photos and ID numbers of 130 men. The leaflet readed: “Contact us if you do not want your picture to appear here… Hundreds of thousands of reports have been collected about you, the residents of Gaza.”

Death Squares

During the recent period, Sada Social observed five cases where Israel and its military forces used the “Death Squares” game in Jabalia, Beit Lahia, Shuja’iyya, Gaza City, and Rafah as a tool to evade responsibility for killing Palestinian civilians. They published maps dividing the Gaza Strip into numbered squares, ordering residents of specific squares to evacuate under the threat of bombardment and death.

The Israeli army used “death squares” in Jabalia, Beit Lahia, Shejaiya, Gaza City, and Rafah during the past months of May and June. Sada Social also documented significant data on the use of artificial intelligence systems and software to guide bombing and destruction campaigns, alongside widespread promotion of surveillance technologies and software, lifting any bans on them as part of warfare tools.

Continued Israeli Incitement

Israeli incitement against Palestinians and their supporters around the world has continued. Since October 7, Sada Social has documented more than 55,000 Israeli inciting posts against Palestinians.

The incitement has focused on calls for genocide in the West Bank, specifically in the northern regions, and has used terms that emphasize intentions for extermination, such as Bezalel Smotrich’s call for “changing the region’s DNA,” clear calls for the killing and execution of Palestinian prisoners, and the repeated Israeli call on social media to use the “Israeli Doomsday Weapon” in Gaza, referring to nuclear weapons.

Regarding the incitement against pro-Palestine supporters, Israel practiced widespread digital incitement against students in their global movements, issuing a regular hate speech to label pro-Palestine protesters as “anti-Semitic.”
They used both fake and real accounts to incite against activists and influencers worldwide, defaming, harassing, and threatening them.

Through monitoring by Sada Social of the series of events and Israeli statements in the digital world, the center adds a new and striking term to the “Codes of Hostility towards Palestine,” which emerged in the past two months to justify genocide in Gaza: “Hamas has returned to the areas where we previously carried out operations.” The occupation has been intensively promoting this narrative across military, political, media, and public levels.