Instagram deleting posts about Palestine

[yankeedoodle]

Instagram deleting posts about Palestine
https://gagadaily.com/forums/topic/360112-instagram-deleting-posts-about-palestine/

Since yesterday, we've been hearing endless stories about Instagram (+ Facebook and Twitter but it seems to be more prominent on Instagram) has been deleting stories, posts, and highlights that are spreading awareness about the events taking place in Palestine over the past week or so. Many have even received notices that their accounts might be completely erased if more posts are detected. The hashtag #SaveSheikhJarrah is being spread online to help spread the world on what is happening in Palestine.

For context, over the past few days, Israel has been taking over the Palestinian Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and kicking people out of their homes and settling Israeli people in their place. Palestinian people are quite literally being thrown out of their homes and they are watching Israelis casually take over their houses and living in them like it's nothing. This is nothing new: the settler colonial Zionist project has a well-known history of taking over Palestinian homes over its history. This is yet another instance of ethnic cleansing being practiced right before our eyes, and nothing is being done about it.

Social media platforms are evidently taking part in this violence by silencing the voice of the Palestinian people and everyone who supports them. and this is once again not a new occurrence. We've had posts and stories taken down previously because they are against guidelines (allegedly), even though all they show is the injustice and the violence practiced by Israel towards Palestinians. This is why it's important to speak out about these things on social media and spread the word as much as possible. Accounts will be taken down, but others will be made and the word will spread whether they want it to spread or not. Staying silent about colonial violence and ethnic cleansing is being complicit to it.

https://twitter.com/theIMEU/status/1390339868039987205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1390339868039987205%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgagadaily.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcontroller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FtheIMEU%2Fstatus%2F1390339868039987205%3Fs%3D20

https://twitter.com/pal_legal/status/1390391402211729416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1390391402211729416%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgagadaily.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcontroller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fpal_legal%2Fstatus%2F1390391402211729416%3Fs%3D20

Some links to news and reports on what's happening in Sheikh Jarrah:

https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1390058985177456649?s=20

https://twitter.com/LinahAlsaafin/status/1389448204752769027?s=20

https://twitter.com/runinsmikasa/status/1390049427516231681?s=20

[abduLMaria]

Zuckerberg works for Israel.

A HUGE cultural change occurred in Silicon Valley when other Jews gave Zuckerberg financing for stolen software.

I was banned by Facebook yesterday for posting a photo of a Tick with an Israeli flag.

[yankeedoodle]

Instagram & Twitter apologize for 'system errors' that deleted pro-Palestine posts, but critics say they are still 'censoring'
https://www.rt.com/news/523482-instagram-twitter-apologize-palestine-censorship/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

Days after Instagram and Twitter blamed "system errors" for deleted posts on unrest in Jerusalem, a coalition of civil society groups and digital rights activists have accused them of continuing to "censor" Palestinian content.

Palestinians facing eviction from occupied East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood have taken to social media to protest. Since last week, reports have emerged of some posts, photos and videos being removed and accounts being blocked for reportedly violating community standards.

In a joint statement on Monday, more than 20 groups called out Facebook and Twitter for "systematically silencing users protesting" and urged them to implement "transparent and coherent content moderation policies."

Terming the scale of the content takedowns as "egregious and pronounced," the signatories said they were indicative of a "wider pattern of consistent censorship of Palestinian and allied voices" that has been "documented for years."

https://twitter.com/Article19MENA/status/1391823336121028612?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1391823336121028612%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fnews%2F523482-instagram-twitter-apologize-palestine-censorship%2F

According to Instagram and Twitter, the accounts were "suspended in error by our automated systems." A Reuters report stated that both platforms had apologized and claimed "the issue had been resolved and content reinstated."

In a statement on Friday, Instagram said that an automated update last week had caused content that was reshared by multiple users to appear "as missing," which impacted "tens of millions of stories," including posts on Sheikh Jarrah and other troubled areas.

https://twitter.com/InstagramComms/status/1390818110664593409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1390818110664593409%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fnews%2F523482-instagram-twitter-apologize-palestine-censorship%2F

"We are so sorry this happened. Especially to those in Colombia, East Jerusalem, and indigenous communities who felt this was an intentional suppression of their voices and their stories – that was not our intent whatsoever," the Instagram statement said.

But on Monday, one of the statement's signatories, 7amleh, a nonprofit Palestinian digital rights advocacy group, said it had received over 200 complaints on deleted posts and suspended accounts about Sheikh Jarrah. The group noted that reports were still coming in.

Its director, Nadim Nashif, said that the restoration of deleted content and accounts notwithstanding, the explanations offered by Instagram and Twitter did not "sound logical" and termed it "weird" for the companies to equate what is happening in Jerusalem with other issues elsewhere.

"We haven't managed to get a transparent, clear system of content moderation. The keyword here is transparency and equality, because this is not happening on the Israeli side," Nashif told the Arab News website.

Another signatory, digital rights group Access Now, claimed the "issue was not resolved" and said it was no longer acceptable for platforms to use "system glitches" as an excuse.

Noting that the episode showed why using algorithms as content moderators was a "terrible idea," Marwa Fatafta, the group's Middle East and North Africa policy adviser, told Reuters that tech companies needed to be "transparent about the systems they use" and "ensure they do not infringe on people's rights in such a discriminatory and arbitrary manner."

Neither Facebook nor Twitter have issued follow-up statements as yet.

Instagram has previously courted controversy over Palestinian issues, notably deleting a post last July by supermodel Bella Hadid showing her father's US passport with his birthplace listed as Palestine – for violating "community guidelines on harassment or bullying."

"Are we not allowed to be Palestinian on Instagram? This, to me, is bullying. You can't erase history by silencing people. It doesn't work like that," Hadid said at the time.