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Weekly Update 06 - 12 January 2023

1.

Wafa Monitors Incitement and Racism in the Israeli Media (Wafa)

Wafa news agency

The Palestinian News and Information Agency (Wafa) monitored incitement and racism in the Israeli media between 1 and 7 January. In its 289 report, Wafa provides monitoring and documentation of inflammatory and racist discourse in the Israeli visual, written, and audio media, and some accounts on social media platforms of political and legal figures in Israeli society. The report monitored the Israeli media's focus and incitement against the prisoners following the release of the dean of the Palestinian and Arab prisoners, Karim Yunis, after he spent 40 continuous years in the occupation prisons, and the pressures to pass the law to "withdraw citizenship" from prisoners, and withdraw privileges for prisoners languishing in the Israeli prisons.

2.

Israel’s Persecution of Palestinian Social-media Activists Slammed by Rights Groups (English)

Arab News

Israel’s security authorities are cracking down hard on Palestinian social-media activists and users for allegedly inciting violence, Palestinian human rights groups claim. The groups say that Israeli authorities significantly escalated their persecution of Palestinians on social-media platforms, especially Facebook, in 2022. Around 410 Palestinians were detained over the year because of their social-media activities, according to the Palestine Center for Prisoners’ Studies.

3.

'TikTok Banned me for Supporting Palestine,' Says Social Media Personality (English)

Roya News

The account owner, who lives in Canada and goes by the name ‘Bandage’, said in a video posted on Instagram that he was banned from TikTok after supporting his country, Palestine. The message from TikTok read, “Your account was banned. If you believe this was a mistake, you can submit an appeal.” Much of his content on social media is concerned with health as well, as he uses his work as a paramedic to ‘teach people how to save lives.’

4.

Meta allows Targeted Hate Speech, Violence, but only against US Rivals (English)

Al-Mayadeen

US tech giant Meta announced on Monday that it now permits sharing posts calling for the death of Iran’s leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei. The decision overturns an earlier policy to ban such posts, with Meta claiming that the phrase "Death to Khamenei" does not entail a literal threat against his life. Users can now liberally use the phrase in English or Farsi, without violating the company's policies and risking penalties.