Social media users and activists on Saturday repeated allegations of silencing and censoring contents of Israeli violence on Palestinians. Contents were ‘hidden’ and removed during the attack in al-Aqsa Mosque during night prayers on Friday.
Social media is playing an important role in Palestinians campaign against fresh settlements in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Many Palestinians allege that posts are removed without any notification.
“Facebook is lying, plain and simple. IG stories are deleted, live streaming is blocked, content related to Jerusalem is restricted. Some users can’t even post a comment. This is not a system glitch, it’s deliberate censorship”, Marwa Fatafta, the Middle East and North Africa policy manager at Access Now tweeted on Saturday morning.
Over 183 people are injured in the attack, according to Red Crescent. Reports of stun grenade fired in hospitals are surfaced with videos from a clinic.
Meanwhile, a poster by Aljazeera shows that #Aqsa in Arabic is hidden citing it violates community standards. Twitter closed over 70 accounts that showed solidarity with the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood and its residents against the Israeli mass eviction operation.
Earlier this week, Many internet watchdogs have accused Facebook and Twitter of silencing the voice of Palestinians who are documenting Human rights violations.
“Facebook and Twitter are systematically silencing users protesting and documenting the evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem,” reads a joint statement by internet rights groups.
