Digital Rights Weekly Update: 31 July - 8 August 2026

Policy Insight

The stories in this week’s roundup reminds us that digital rights are shaped not only by technological breakthroughs, but also by whose voices technologies amplify, marginalize, or ignore. New research revealing language-based differences in Claude’s responses raises important questions about linguistic equity in AI systems, particularly for Arabic-speaking communities that have long experienced disparities across digital platforms. At the same time, the remarkable resilience of Gaza’s growing digital workforce demonstrates how technology is a lifeline, even under conditions designed to make ordinary life impossible.

Alongside these developments, 7amleh’s research outputs continues to expose how platform algorithms normalize harm, from amplifying organized crime on TikTok to documenting years of systematic suppression of Palestinian voices on Meta. Together, these stories reinforce the simple idea that accountability must extend from algorithms to the infrastructures that shape our realities.

News Digest

Study finds TikTok amplifies organized crime content throughout Palestinian society in Israel

The New Arab

LONDON: In one corner of the internet, tucked between flashy dance challenges and viral recipes, a young TikTok user stops scrolling to watch a gang member preach hate. The idea that TikTok, like any major social platform, hosts violent and hateful content may not be new. But the message this boy sees is different: it glorifies power, dominance and the ability to act with impunity. A new study says this is no isolated case. TikTok is increasingly being used by organized crime networks in Palestinian society inside Israel to promote violence, build criminal identities and recruit young people, with the platform’s algorithms helping to amplify such content. The report, released late in July by 7amleh, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, warns that criminal groups are exploiting TikTok not only to share violent footage but also to market their services, display power and influence, and expand their reach online. Titled “Algorithms of Violence,” the study says these practices contribute to the normalization of criminal behavior and strengthen its presence in the digital space.

'Digital lifeline' - Gaza tech workers give glimpse of possible future

BBC

"I was just in a trough, drowning in uncertainty," says Walaa Volidis, a Palestinian software engineer. "But deep inside, I made a decision: it will not be the end, no matter how hard it gets. I'll keep fighting for my dreams." Wearing a headset and glued to her laptop, Walaa discusses AI on a video call with her mentor in California's Silicon Valley. The 24-year-old wants to keep her skills up to date. But that is the least of her daily challenges as she lives in a tent in central Gaza supporting her displaced parents and four younger siblings. "When the war started, I lost everything: my job, my university, even some of my family members. My sisters were injured," Walaa tells me from a co-working space in Deir al-Balah. She says her mental health was "totally destroyed", but she prioritised finding work. Walaa is one of thousands of young Gazans now pursuing roles in the digital economy. "It's a kind of momentum," she says. "I have my main goal every single day to go to work, to finish my tasks. If you stop or cry about your situation, you will not do anything."

‘Platformicide’: Five Years of Evidence Expose the Suppression of Palestinian Voices on Meta

Greatreporter

A Palestinian-led investigation has documented 3,520 cases involving removed posts, suspended accounts, blocked livestreams and concealed restrictions across Facebook and Instagram. Its findings reinforce earlier investigations by Human Rights Watch, the BBC and a human rights review commissioned by Meta itself. For years, Palestinian journalists, news organisations and activists have described an invisible struggle taking place behind their screens. Posts documenting Israeli attacks disappeared without warning. Accounts were suspended or prevented from broadcasting live. Pages with hundreds of thousands of followers suddenly reached only a fraction of their previous audiences, frequently without any notification that a restriction had been imposed. Because Meta’s algorithms and internal enforcement systems remain largely inaccessible to outsiders, those experiences were often dismissed as anecdotal or attributed to technical failures. A major investigation by the Palestinian digital rights organisation 7amleh, however, argues that the accumulated evidence reveals something far more systematic. Published on June 9, 2026, The Platformicide of Palestine 2021–2025 analyses 3,520 cases submitted to 7amleh’s Palestinian Observatory for Digital Rights Violations, known as 7or. Conducted with Dr Fabio Cristiano of Utrecht University, the research examines Meta’s treatment of Palestinian and Palestine-related material on Facebook and Instagram between January 2021 and December 2025.

How American Media Sold, Censored, and Enabled the Genocide in Gaza

Institute For Palestine Studies

For nearly three years, U.S. news coverage of Israel's genocide in Gaza has shaped what the American public was allowed to see, question, and believe. Presented by the Institute for Palestine Studies-USA in partnership with Prism Reports and Visualizing Palestine, this webinar brings together three authors whose recent and forthcoming books dissect that failure from different angles: Assal Rad, author of Don't Say Palestine: How the Media Manufactured Consent for Genocide, who traces the dehumanizing language patterns embedded in headlines and coverage; Adam H. Johnson, author of How to Sell a Genocide: The Media's Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza, who unpacks the data-driven mechanics of propaganda that repackaged mass killing into a familiar "war on terror" narrative; and Robin Andersen, author of The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel's Genocide in Gaza — co-published by the Institute for Palestine Studies and OR Books — who scrutinizes how legacy media's framing and visual record of the genocide aligned with Israeli military narratives while censoring the very words needed to describe what was happening.