Report flags Meta content moderation concerns in Israel and Palestine
A NEW report commissioned by Meta found that content inciting hatred and violence against parties to the May 2021 conflict between Israel and the Hamas regime was not adequately removed by Facebook and Instagram.
The BSR report, which was recommended by the independent Oversight Board, found under-enforcement of the social media firm’s policies relating to dangerous organisations and individuals.
It found that that Arabic-language content suffered from both over-enforcement and under-enforcement to a higher degree than Hebrew-language content.
The report concluded that Meta’s actions regarding a news post about a threat of violence from the military wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, had an “adverse human rights impact on the rights of Palestinian users to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, political participation, and non-discrimination”.
Similar reports around the company have also been published in recent years, including the tech giant’s handling of the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and human rights concerns in the Philippines and Cambodia.
Meta said in a release : “There are no quick, overnight fixes to many of these recommendations, as BSR makes clear. While we have made significant changes as a result of this exercise already, this process will take time — including time to understand how some of these recommendations can best be addressed, and whether they are technically feasible.”