Check out the full report

1.

Palestinian Digital Rights Coalition Calls on Meta to Stop Dehumanizing Palestinians and Silencing Their Voices (English)

7amleh

We, a collective of Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations, are deeply astonished at how Palestinian identity continues to be dehumanized and silenced by Meta’s digital platforms. Amid the intensifying atrocities perpetrated by Israeli authorities against the Palestinian people, characterized by relentless violence and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions 1949, we are compelled to address Meta on the issue of dehumanization of the Palestinian people, especially during times of crisis.

2.

Why Is Instagram Censoring a Palestinian Aid Fundraiser? (English)

The Mary Sue

The Games for Gaza charity bundle on Itch.io is currently sitting at over $300k raised for Palestinian medical aid, but you might not know it with Instagram censoring posts about the bundle. As reported by indie developer Evan Binder, posts using the hashtag #GamesForGaza are conspicuously missing on search, and replaced with a stock message suggesting the posts violated Instagram’s community guidelines.

3.

The Digital Services Act and Palestinian Digital Rights: A Complex Intersection (English)

The Policy Press

Amid the much-anticipated implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) as a cornerstone in fortifying digital rights for European Union (EU) citizens, a significant concern arises. While the text is heralded as a positive step in addressing illegal and harmful content, there is growing apprehension about its unintended repercussions on the digital rights of Palestinians and other vulnerable communities, notably those in the Global South. 7amleh-The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media has vigilantly monitored this issue since the onset of negotiations around the DSA, emphasizing the intricate relationship between the Israel/Palestine context, the Global South as a whole, and EU legislation.

4.

Intensified Israeli Surveillance Has Put the West Bank on Lockdown (English)

Wired

The West Bank has long been seen as a testing ground for Israeli surveillance technology and tactics. Its defense exports have doubled in the past decade, partially thanks to the success of companies producing surveillance systems, like Elbit, Candiru, and Rafael, as well as NSO Group, which produces the Pegasus spyware. But on October 7, on the other side of Israel, the country’s famed surveillance network apparently failed. Hamas gunmen breached the high-tech border separating Gaza from Israel and murdered 1,400 people, taking more than 200 hostages. Since then, a growing sense of paranoia has given Israel’s government the impetus to ramp up restrictions and surveillance in the West Bank, according to analysts and activists working in the region.

5.

Harassment of Palestinian Students and Staff Is Spreading in US Grade Schools (English)

Truthout

What’s more, Palestinian and Muslim teachers have also experienced troubling behavior such as menacing emails, threatening phone calls, shunning by colleagues, as well as invasive scrutiny of personal social media posts that express criticism of Israel. “Before the war, pro-Palestinian student activists were targeted. Now it’s become more personal, and everyone who speaks out about Palestinian humanity is being targeted and doxed, with names, addresses and photos.” Corey Saylor, national research and advocacy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) told Truthout

6.

WhatsApp’s AI shows gun-wielding children when prompted with ‘Palestine’ (English)

The Guardian

A WhatsApp feature that generates images in response to users’ searches returns a picture of a gun or a boy with a gun when prompted with the terms “Palestinian”, “Palestine” or “Muslim boy Palestinian”, the Guardian has learned. The search results varied when tested by different users, but the Guardian verified through screenshots and its own tests that various stickers portraying guns surfaced for these three search results. Prompts for “Israeli boy” generated cartoons of children playing soccer and reading. In response to a prompt for “Israel army” the AI created drawings of soldiers smiling and praying, no guns involved.