Social media’s erasure of Palestinians is a grim warning for our future
JVL Introduction
Serious concern is growing at the undemocratic power exercised by social media.
The hope that their development would provide a neutral arena for information sharing and a tool for widening public debate and increasing civic engagement is ringing increasingly hollow
Here Jonathan Cook shows that concerns are, if anything, understated.
In the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict it is increasingly clear that Israel, which early on decided to “create a community of fighters” whose job was to “flood the internet” with propaganda, is increasingly able to get Facebook and other digital giants to act as censors on its behalf.
In the latest development Israel has actually added to its new oversight board, one Emi Palmor, former Israeli Justice Ministry director-general.
Her qualification: she has previously worked hand-in-hand with the tech giants to censor Palestinian posts and shut down Palestinian news websites.
This article was originally published by Jonathan Cook's blog on Mon 26 Oct 2020. Read the original here.
Social media’s erasure of Palestinians is a grim warning for our future
Facebook, Google and Twitter are not neutral platforms. They control the digital public square to aid the powerful – and can cancel any of us overnight
Loading article text…
Comments are now closed.