Digital Rights Weekly Update: 2 - 8 January

7amleh Calls on LinkedIn not to Support Annexation Policies and Settlement Discourse

7amleh

On 5 January 2026, 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, sent a formal letter to the management of LinkedIn, calling on the company to refrain from adopting or reproducing policies and narratives that contribute to the unlawful annexation of Palestinian land and the promotion of settlement-based discourse. This follows the documentation of geographic classifications on the platform that list Palestinian cities and areas in the West Bank under the label “Judea and Samaria, Israel.” 7amleh clarified that these digital practices cannot be separated from the prevailing political and legal context, as they present occupied Palestinian territory as though it were part of Israeli sovereignty, in clear disregard of internationally recognised legal reality. 7amleh emphasised that Palestine constitutes a single territory under occupation since 1967, comprising the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and is recognised as a State by 146 United Nations Member States, representing the overwhelming majority of the international community.

Report reveals 'secret web' of unlisted sites linked to pro-Israel doxxing company

MEE

A new investigation by Drop Site News has uncovered several secret websites and content management systems used by Canary Mission, the anonymous doxxing platform based in Israel and used by the Trump administration to target pro-Palestine campaigners for deportation and arrest. Data collected by software engineers over a period of three months in 2025 include strategic planning documents, internal communications about meetings and quarterly plans, names of workers, contracted vendors and assessments of influence. The report, published on Tuesday, provides insight into the inner workings of the shadowy company, revealing that one of these unlisted websites, BlackNest, highlighted the deportation or dismissal of pro-Palestine students and professors as evidence of the company’s “impact”. BlackNest categorised Canary Mission’s influence on speech and US policy in suppressing opposition to Israel into several categories, including, “Change of behaviour”, job loss, denials of entry to the US, arrests, and “deportation/forced to flee”, Drop Site reports.  

Israel authorises electronic tracking of Palestinians

MEM

Israel has authorised the use of electronic tracking devices on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, formalising real-time surveillance of civilians who have not been charged, tried or convicted of any crime, according to a new directive issued by the Israeli army. The order allows Israeli authorities to compel Palestinians placed under administrative movement restrictions to wear or carry electronic monitoring devices and criminalises any attempt to tamper with them. The measure embeds electronic tagging within Israel’s system of military rule over the occupied territory, further expanding the regime of surveillance imposed on the Palestinian civilian population. Significantly in another example of the Israel’s apartheid rule, defence minister, Israel Katz, has explicitly excluded illegal Jewish settlers in the West Bank from the directive, underscoring the discriminatory nature of the policy and its application along ethnic and national lines. The order was issued following coordination between the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Security Agency, Israel Police, the Ministry of Justice and the military’s legal authorities responsible for the occupied West Bank.

Israel rolls out new system to tighten movement controls in West Bank

Daily Sabah

he Israeli army said Monday it is rolling out a new technological system to regulate movement in the occupied West Bank for Israelis and Palestinians, a step Israeli media reported comes amid growing concerns over escalating settler violence. The decision allows security forces "to install a technological monitoring device on individuals subject to an administrative order restricting their movement within the (West Bank)," the army said in a statement. The system would allow for monitoring of "violations of these restriction orders accordingly," it added. The measure was adopted after a request by the head of the domestic Shin Bet security agency David Zini, in response to rising violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Israel's Channel 12 reported.

Viral campaign ads attacking pro-Palestine movement points to concerning gaps in Meta rules

Business and Human Rights Center

A multimillion-dollar campaign attacking the pro-Palestine movement has spent more than $370,000 in the past month on viral adverts for Facebook and Instagram without disclosing where its money comes from. The campaign, run by an organisation called Facts for Peace, has published videos that appear to conflate support for Palestine with backing for Hamas, a designated terrorist group. Its content has already amassed more than 21m views. The adverts highlight how current social media rules mean new campaigns can quickly reach millions of people while remaining opaque about their own funding. Neither Facts for Peace’s listing on Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, nor its own website makes any mention of who is behind the campaign.