Digital watchdog reveals 14,000 violations against Palestinian content since October 7

AMMAN — The Palestinian NGO Sada Social has detected over 3,000 digital violations against Palestinian content on social media platforms during November 2023. 

This brings the number of recorded violations against Palestinian content to 14,000 since October 7, the digital watchdog stated in its November report. 

The detected digital violations concerned deleting accounts or pages in 32 per cent of cases, while the remaining 68 per cent included various “restrictions”, such as banning posts as well as preventing livestreams, paid advertisements, interactions and sending private messages. 

The report noted that violations particularly targeting journalists and media organisations, which publish Palestinian content, accounted for 55 per cent of the total number of recorded violations, which marks a 10 per cent increase compared with the previous month. 

It also pointed out that the Israeli occupation forces have killed 72 journalists in Gaza since October 7. They have also arrested 26 journalists and activists, including the Palestinian journalist Sumaya Jawabreh, a seven months pregnant mother of three, who is currently held under house arrest. 

Sada Social additionally detected over 27,000 “inciting content” against Palestinians in Hebrew and other languages since October 7, including explicit calls for murder as well as defamation of reporters and rallying groups to go after them. 

The digital watchdog stated that these instances weren’t subjected to the same level of oversight enforced by social media platforms on “Arab content”. 

It further noted that the detected digital violations were not only limited to Palestinian users of social media platforms, as 17 per cent of complaints received by Sada Social were from Arab users and supporters of the Palestinian cause from around the world. 

Majority of Jordanian content talks Gaza, Palestine. 

Abdurrahman Al Husami, founder and CEO of Makana 360, a data driven communications consulting firm, said that 70 per cent of digital content published in Jordan on all social media platforms is about the Palestinian cause and the Israeli aggression on Gaza. 

His remarks were made last Tuesday, during a media forum organised by the Centre For Defending Freedom of Journalists to discuss media and social media platforms during times of war and crises, with a focus on the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza. 

In response to restrictions imposed by social media platforms on pro-Palestinian content, many Jordanians are taking part in a recently launched global campaign under the hashtag #WeWontBeSilenced. 

“Dear world, stop giving Israel the green light,”X user from Jordan Rania wrote, calling out what she described as “genocide” against the people of Gaza. 

“Don’t stop talking about Gaza! Your constant posting about Palestine is raising awareness! Keep posting, liking, and sharing,” she added under the hashtag #WeWontBeSilenced.