New Report by 7amleh Exposes Biased Content Moderation Practices on LinkedIn During the Genocide in Gaza

October 27, 2025, 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media has released a new report titled “Digital Rights Under Threat: The Impact of LinkedIn’s Biased Moderation Amid Genocide.” The report documents, through fifteen user testimonies and interviews with LinkedIn and Microsoft employees, the violations resulting from biased content moderation practices and their impact on Palestinian human rights defenders amid Israel’s ongoing war and genocide in Gaza.

The report reveals serious gaps in LinkedIn’s moderation policies and an internal work environment marked by institutional bias in favor of Israel and anti-Palestinian racism. This environment has enabled violations of standard moderation procedures and the restriction of human rights and humanitarian content supportive of Palestinians. Testimonies indicate that executive decisions within the company have led to clear violations of digital rights and freedom of expression, in direct contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The report also highlights the platform’s leniency toward content inciting violence and hatred against Palestinians, exposing a dangerous double standard in moderation enforcement.

Interviews reveal that LinkedIn employees filed formal complaints to senior management about these “double standards” as early as October 2023, after initiatives related to Palestinian culture and human rights were canceled and internally described as “revolting.” This points to internal efforts to silence employees who attempted to challenge institutional bias.

The report further finds that users advocating for Palestinian rights faced repeated or prolonged account restrictions, while hate speech against Palestinians remained largely unchecked. The majority of participants reported practicing self-censorship for fear of losing job opportunities or having their accounts restricted. As one user stated, “I feel that if I say the word ‘Palestine’, there will be an issue.” The report also notes that the platform continues to remove posts containing the phrase “From the river to the sea,” underscoring how LinkedIn applies discriminatory double standards to Palestinian political expression.

In conclusion, 7amleh calls on LinkedIn and Microsoft to adhere to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and to urgently assess the human rights impact of their moderation policies since October 2023, ensure transparency and consistency in enforcement, and establish effective appeal mechanisms for users. The report also urges the companies to address institutional bias internally through independent reporting channels and review cases of retaliation and discrimination against employees.

7amleh further calls on policymakers and regulatory bodies, particularly in the European Union, to hold platforms accountable under digital frameworks such as the Digital Services Act, subject them to independent audits during times of conflict, and develop stronger international mechanisms to ensure accountability for tech companies complicit in human rights violations.

Read the full report here.