Facebook, Instagram Censored Palestinian Content, Alleges Rights Group
NDTV
The Human Rights Watch has urged Facebook to commission an "independent investigation into content moderation regarding Israel and Palestine".
Facebook and its Instagram platform have wrongfully removed and suppressed content by Palestinians, including about abuses during Israeli-Palestinian violence this year, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
The accusation adds to pressure on the world's largest social network after a whistleblower told US lawmakers on Tuesday that the company needs to be regulated.
Palestinians had complained publicly about alleged censorship of social networks in May, when unrest in Jerusalem escalated into a deadly military confrontation between Islamist groups firing rockets from the Palestinian territories, and Israel which launched air strikes.
"Facebook has suppressed content posted by Palestinians and their supporters speaking out about human rights issues in Israel and Palestine," Deborah Brown, senior digital rights researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement which called the action "censorship."
