Digital Rights Weekly Update: 5 - 11 June 2026

News Digest

The World Food Programme Must Ensure the Protection of the Palestinian Data: 7amleh demands Transparency and Accountability

7amleh

June 6, 2026, 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media is gravely concerned by the cyber-attack on the World Food Programme that has exposed the personal data of approximately 600,000 Palestinian households in Gaza, drawn from a registered population of more than two million people. According to WFP’s own notification, the breach of its Self-Registration Application (SRA) exposed names, identification numbers, mobile numbers and “location data.” By WFP’s own account, this may be the largest known breach of humanitarian beneficiary data to date. This data was not surrendered freely. It was provided as the price of survival by a population the International Court of Justice has found to be plausibly subjected to genocidal acts, under provisional measures since January 2024. In Gaza, to register was to eat. Consent given under siege and engineered starvation is not meaningful consent — it is a necessity. The duty of care owed over such data is therefore at its highest, and it is against that standard that the handling of this incident must be measured.

New Research Reveals Systematic Suppression of Palestinian Digital Content Across Meta Platforms

7amleh

June 9, 2026, 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media released today new research titled “The Platformicide of Palestine (2021–2025): A Data-Based Analysis of Meta’s Policy Application, Moderation Enforcement, and Communication,” documenting patterns of censorship and suppression affecting Palestinian content across Meta’s platforms over a five-year period. Developed by 7amleh in partnership with Dr. Fabio Cristiano of Utrecht University, the research is based on an analysis of 3,520 cases submitted to the Palestinian Observatory for Digital Rights Violations (7or) between 2021 and 2025. The findings indicate that Meta’s moderation of Palestinian content is not the result of isolated errors, but reflects recurring patterns in policy application, enforcement practices, and communication with affected users. The research found that Meta frequently moderates Palestinian content through its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals (DOI) policy, originally designed to address terrorism and organised violence. The policy was repeatedly applied to content published by journalists, media organisations, civil society actors, activists, and ordinary users, raising concerns that Palestinian expression is routinely approached through a security framework rather than as legitimate political, journalistic, or civic speech.

Rising from the rubble: A Gaza tech incubator defies Israel’s war

Al Jazeera

Israel’s war on Gaza has decimated the tech sector, killing experts and destroying incubators that offered opportunities. The devastating fallout of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip has extended far beyond the destruction of homes and basic services. More than two and a half years of violence have obliterated Gaza’s economy – including the technology and entrepreneurship sector, a vital lifeline that once provided thousands of graduates with a window of hope amid mass unemployment and Israel’s years-long blockade. Among the hardest-hit institutions is the UCAS Technology Incubator, affiliated with the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of southwestern Gaza City. Once a vibrant hub for innovation and startups, its headquarters and facilities were reduced to rubble in August 2024 after Israeli attacks targeted the college. Abdallah al-Tahrawi, director of the UCAS Technology Incubator, told Al Jazeera that the centre was established 13 years ago to invest in Palestinian youth and foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship to support economic development. The incubator – the name given to organisations that foster tech startups and entrepreneurs – has supported more than 500 young tech professionals and hosted dozens of projects focused on information technology, food manufacturing, commerce, and creative industries.

Business responsibility in the Israeli-Palestine conflict: three tech companies, three different responses

IHRB

Microsoft recently took the unprecedented decision of removing many senior executives of its Israeli operations and moving its reporting office from Dubai to France.  The global software giant was stung by reports last year, which alleged that Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure was being used by the Israeli Defence Force to run a surveillance regime in the occupied territories and offer guidance to select bombing targets. Microsoft set up an investigation. Once the allegations surfaced, Microsoft hired a prominent law firm to investigate.  The company discovered its Israeli subsidiary’s activities made it vulnerable to potential prosecution in Europe, which has strict data privacy laws, as well as undermined the company’s own human rights policies. Microsoft went on to block Israeli military units from using its technology. And now that it has evidence, it has taken firm steps to change the way it does business in Israel.  Microsoft’s response is in marked contrast to the cavalier disregard Palantir has shown about its close ties with Israel or its technology and services being used to support Israeli attacks. Anthropic, another company offering artificial intelligence services, has drawn some lines, although some of its technology is used by Palantir and Microsoft, which links Anthropic’s services with conflict.