SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS FACE ACCUSATION OF CENSORING GAZA CONTENT

Sat 05 October 2024:

Social media and digital platforms have played a crucial role in publicising the war in Gaza, but face accusations of algorithmic bias and content censorship, experts say, Anadolu Agency reports.

Over the past year, Palestinians have utilised digital content to bring events in Gaza to a wide audience across the Arab, Islamic and Western worlds, sparking demonstrations of support worldwide.

However, experts believe that the algorithms of social media platforms are limiting the spread of Palestinian content.

The intense digital engagement of young Palestinians has led Israel to target prominent social media figures, YouTube channel owners and journalists broadcasting live from Gaza, according to Abdoulhakim Ahmine, a Moroccan media and communications expert who spoke to Anadolu.

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“Some countries, especially France and Germany, initially imposed some kind of digital restrictions, but were forced to back down due to growing popular support for Palestine,” Ahmine said.

He noted a “communicative pressure” on young people expressing themselves on these platforms.

Hassan Kharjouj, a technology researcher, said: “The algorithms of digital platforms heavily censor Palestinian content and limit its distribution.” He added that users have developed techniques to circumvent the removal of content.

Sada Social, a research centre based in Palestine, documented over 5,450 violations against Palestine-related digital content in the first four months of 2024 in a May 2023 report.

It found Instagram accounted for 32 per cent of violations, Facebook 26 per cent, WhatsApp 16 per cent, TikTok 14 per cent, and X 12 per cent.

Despite these challenges, social media remains a key tool for disseminating information about Israel’s genocidal acts in the region.

-MEMO

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