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Meta’s Community Standards as a Tool of Digital/Settler-Colonialism (English)

An Excerpt from The Markaz Review

Our current moment has seen the social media juggernaut Facebook, now rebranded to Meta, lean ever more comfortably into the latter role. Firstly, there is the harrowing possibility that Israel is relying on metadata vulnerabilities in the Meta-owned messaging app, WhatsApp, to generate kill-lists of Palestinians in Gaza. Then, there is Meta’s longstanding policy of Palestine-focused censorship. As Sam Biddle reported in The Intercept, this policy apparently extends to Meta workers who describe a corporate environment that is unresponsive and even dismissive of their concerns. A July 11th, 2024 open letter by the recently-formed group Metamates4Ceasefire describes months of silencing against worker opposition to Meta’s policies regarding Palestine due to the company’s Community Engagement Expectations (CEE.)

Questions and Answers: Israeli Military’s Use of Digital Tools in Gaza

An Excerpt from HRW

Following the attack by Hamas-led Palestinian armed groups in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, there has been extensive reporting on the Israeli military’s use of digital tools in their operations in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military reportedly uses surveillance technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and other digital tools to help determine who or what to attack in Gaza and when. Human Rights Watch found that four digital tools that the Israeli military is using in Gaza use faulty data and inexact approximations to inform military actions. The Israeli military’s use of these digital tools risk Israeli forces violating international humanitarian law, in particular the laws of war concerning distinction between military targets and civilians, and the need to take all feasible precautions before an attack to minimize civilian harm.

Internet service cut off in central, southern Gaza Strip: Telecom company

An Excerpt from Anadolu Agency

Internet service was cut off in the central and southern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian telecom company Paltel said on Sunday. In a statement, the company said the home internet service was disrupted by the ongoing Israeli offensive in the area. “Our crews are working hard to restore the service as quickly as possible,” it added. The blockaded enclave has faced several communications and internet outages amid a brutal Israeli offensive that has left more than 41,000 dead since last October. An ongoing blockade of the enclave has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins. Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.

YouTube censors EI programme examining UK role in Israel’s genocide in Gaza

An Excerpt from Skwawkbox

YouTube has just placed a punitive freeze on The Electronic Intifada’s channel, alleging that several previous livestream segments violated their opaque “community guidelines.” We vigorously reject this. Our careful reporting and analysis are professional, ethical and factual. This blatant act of censorship aimed at preventing us from freely discussing the situation in Palestine and the wider region includes banning us from posting videos or livestreaming on our YouTube Channel for seven days. This means we are unable to livestream our program today, 11 September 2024, via YouTube.