The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today 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.
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“If Meta is serious about fostering an environment where important debates can occur on Facebook, Instagram and Threads without biased interference, then the company should immediately stop shadow banning advocates for Palestinian human rights and suppressing posts critical of the far-right Israeli government. Meta’s ending fact checking while simultaneously suppressing pro-Palestine speech would smack of a political decision, not a principled effort to foster debate and discussion.”
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on Meta’s pro-Palestine content suppression documented 1,050 takedowns and other suppression of content that had been posted by Palestinians and their supporters. HRW called the censorship “systemic and global.”
Similarly, a BBC report indicated that Facebook restricted the reach of Palestinian news outlets and shadow-banned Palestinian pages of the 7amleh human rights group. Instagram allegedly increased its moderation of Palestinian user comments.
SEE: Facebook parent Meta faces increased scrutiny over alleged Palestinian censorship – UPI
CAIR’s call comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will end its fact-checking program and replace it with a community-driven system.
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.
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw, 202-716-6242, 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