New report highlights rise in violations of Palestinian digital rights

Publishing Date

NAZARETH-(BNEWS)- Hashtag Palestine, a new report released by the non-profit organization 7Amleh-The Arab Center for Social Media Advancement, has said that over the course of 2021, 1,033 violations of digital rights on social media platforms, including content removal and account suspensions, were committed against Palestinians.

“Social media platforms increased surveillance of Palestinian content, deleting and restricting hundreds of posts related to the Palestinian situation during a period not exceeding two weeks,” the report reads, with reference to the major events that took place in Palestine last May.

The findings of the report also include a significant increase in Israeli use of surveillance technologies, evident in the proposal of an Israeli law to allow the use of facial-recognition cameras in public spaces. 

“Over the past few years, Israeli surveillance has dramatically intensified to surveil Palestinians through several techniques,” the report reads. 

Additionally, the ‘Hashtag Palestine 2021’ report illustrates the continuation of Israeli incitement online against Palestinians in the media and on social media platforms. 

According to the “Index of Racism and Incitement” issued by 7amleh in June, incitement in Hebrew against Arabs and Palestinians increased by 15 times during the aggression on the Gaza Strip and the events of May 2021, compared to the same period in 2020.