Digital Rights Weekly Update: 2 - 9 January

The Palestinian Digital Rights Coalition Condemns Violations of Digital Rights and Press Freedom in Palestine

7amleh

The Palestinian Digital Rights Coalition (PDRC) expresses its shock and deep concern over the alarming escalation of restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression, the right to access, share, and disseminate information, and press freedom. These developments follow recent actions by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which constitute severe violations of fundamental rights enshrined in the amended Palestinian Basic Law and the international human rights agreements to which Palestine is a party. Freedom of opinion and expression, the right to access information, and press freedom are foundational pillars of any just and equitable society. We stand firmly with journalists, activists, and all Palestinians in their pursuit of these rights and call for immediate action to protect them.

Meta is getting rid of fact checkers. Zuckerberg acknowledged more harmful content will appear on the platforms now

CNN

In a number of sweeping changes that will significantly alter the way that posts, videos and other content are moderated online, Meta will adjust its content review policies on Facebook and Instagram, getting rid of fact checkers and replacing them with user-generated “community notes,” similar to Elon Musk’s X, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday. The changes come just before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office. Trump and other Republicans have lambasted Zuckerberg and Meta for what they view as censorship of right-wing voices.

CAIR Calls on Meta to Stop Censoring Pro-Palestine Speech After Company Ends Fact-Checking

CAIR

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. 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.

Chris Hedges: Exposing Big Tech’s Complicity in Genocide | The Chris Hedges Report

Scheerpost

The vast censorship and suppression campaign launched by American tech companies since October 7, 2023 has been both systemic and deliberate. Instagram, Facebook, X as well as other tech platforms and companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple have actively worked to stifle information regarding the genocide in Gaza. Dissent against policies or individuals who enable these decisions is often met with swift reprimand in the form of job loss. Joining host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report are three courageous individuals who chose to put their careers on the line to fight against Big Tech suppression of voices fighting for Palestinian lives. Saima Akhter, a former data analyst at Meta; Hossam Nasr, a former software engineer at Microsoft; and Tariq Ra’ouf, a former tech expert at Apple, speak about the internal struggles they dealt with in light of the genocide, which ultimately led to each of their dismissals.

Palestinian Authority suppresses criticism of Jenin operation in West Bank

Al-Jazeera

Activists and rights groups said dozens of people have been summoned and interrogated – some beaten – over social media posts opposing the PA’s operation in Jenin, although prominent Palestinian personalities have still been able to write critical posts about the security operation. Most of those detained have been released, but some were forced to upload apology videos, according to rights groups. Sanad, Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency, reviewed and verified three apology videos that were circulating online.