The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Meta to stop blocking anti-genocide, pro-Palestine posts on Instagram and Facebook under pressure from Israeli government censors and staffers who once worked for the Israeli government.
According to a new report by Drop Site News, posts on Instagram and Facebook that are critical of Israel’s genocide or even just supportive of Palestinian human rights, are being taken down based on the demands of the government of Israel.
Drop Site News reports: “The data show that Meta has complied with 94% of takedown requests issued by Israel since October 7, 2023. Israel is the biggest originator of takedown requests globally by far, and Meta has followed suit—widening the net of posts it automatically removes, and creating what can be called the largest mass censorship operation in modern history.
“Government requests for takedowns generally focus on posts made by citizens inside that government’s borders, Meta insiders said. What makes Israel’s campaign unique is its success in censoring speech in many countries outside of Israel. What’s more, Israel’s censorship project will echo well into the future, insiders said, as the AI program Meta is currently training how to moderate content will base future decisions on the successful takedown of content critical of Israel’s genocide.”
In a statement, CAIR said:
“The widespread censorship of anti-genocide and pro-Palestine views by Meta at the behest of the Israeli government and Meta employees who once worked for the Israeli government is unacceptable. Meta must stop censoring criticism of the Israeli government under the guise of combating antisemitism, and Meta must stop training artificial intelligence tools to do so.
“Meta’s censorship of free speech for Palestinian human rights represents just one aspect of the decades-long international effort to dehumanize the Palestinian people and grant impunity to the Israeli government as it carries out its campaign of slaughter, mass destruction, forced starvation, and ethnic cleansing.
“Meta must allow free speech for the millions of people worldwide who are outraged by the Israeli apartheid government’s genocidal crimes against humanity and by our nation’s complicity with those crimes.”
In January, CAIR responded to Meta’s decision to stop fact checking content on Facebook, Instagram and Threads by calling on the company to also stop censoring users and posts supportive of Palestinian human rights or critical of the Israeli government.
Last year, CAIR welcomed a decision by Meta’s (Facebook’s parent company) oversight board that the use of the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which some activists say they use to call for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in one state with equal rights, does not inherently constitute hate speech.
On Friday, CAIR said a new United Nations analysis of recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza showing that 36 of those strikes killed “only women and children” further exposes Israel’s genocide. Israel has slaughtered more than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children.
CAIR recently called on the Trump administration to address the latest reports of Israel’s torture of Palestinian prisoners.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR also called for the release of prominent Palestinian journalist Samer Khuwaira after he was taken from his West Bank home by Israeli forces.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com