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

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.

The findings also reveal significant shortcomings in transparency. In nearly 70 percent of documented cases, users were not clearly informed which policy they had allegedly violated, while many appeals received either generic responses or no response at all. Between 2021 and 2025, almost half of the 2,800 appeals submitted by 7amleh received no response from Meta.

The research further documents increasing reliance on less visible forms of enforcement, including reduced distribution, recommendation filtering, shadowbanning, restrictions on account functionality, and limitations on live broadcasting. These measures often affect the reach and visibility of Palestinian content without users being clearly informed that restrictions have been imposed.

“The Platformicide of Palestine 2021–2025 provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of Meta’s systematic erasure of Palestinian users and content from its platforms. By referring to this process as platformicide, the research demonstrates that Meta does more than apply exceptional moderation to Palestinians and Palestine-related content. Its approach involves a broader socio-technical architecture characterised by overbroad policy application, disproportionate enforcement against journalists and media outlets, ad hoc policy changes, algorithmic suppression, delayed restorations, and poor or absent communication with affected users and stakeholders, including 7amleh. One of the report’s central findings is that the platformicide intensified after 7 October 2023 and throughout the genocide in Gaza, precisely at a time when Palestinians needed platforms the most,” said Dr Fabio Cristiano, Assistant Professor in Conflict Studies, Utrecht University and lead researcher of the project

“Palestinians increasingly rely on digital platforms to document violations, share information, preserve collective memory, and advocate for their rights,” said Nadim Nashif, Founder and Executive Director of 7amleh. “This research demonstrates that the challenges facing Palestinian content are not limited to isolated incidents of censorship. They reflect deeper structural bias and racism within Meta’s moderation systems that continue to undermine Palestinian digital rights, restrict access to information, and weaken civic space online.”

The research calls on Meta to undertake an independent human rights audit of its moderation systems relating to Palestine, reform the application of the Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy, strengthen protections for journalism and public-interest content, improve Arabic-language moderation, increase transparency regarding moderation decisions, and establish more effective escalation and appeals mechanisms for journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society organisations.

The findings were presented during a public launch event held on 8 June 2026 in partnership with The Contesting Governance Platform at Utrecht University. The full research is based on data collected through 7or, 7amleh’s Palestinian Observatory for Digital Rights Violations, and examines Meta’s moderation practices across Facebook and Instagram between January 2021 and December 2025.

Read full research, here.