Demonstration against Facebook’s closure of Palestinian pages

Demonstration in Gaza City against Facebook’s closure of Palestinian pages 29 September 2016. [Mohammed Asad]

Demonstration in Gaza City against Facebook’s closure of Palestinian pages 29 September 2016. [Mohammed Asad]

Demonstration in Gaza City against Facebook’s closure of Palestinian pages 29 September 2016. [Mohammed Asad]

Palestinian journalists and activists demonstrated in Gaza City today against Facebook’s policies which have seen the pages of Palestinian news organisations and the personal accounts of activists closed down.

Standing outside the headquarters of the High Representative of the United Nations, protestors condemned the action holding posters which read: “The Israeli occupation is killing us and Facebook is killing the truth”, “Stop the absence of the Palestinian narrative”.

Yasser Abu Hin, editor of the Safa news agency, said Facebook closed his organisation’s page yesterday after the number of followers it had reached one million.

“We stand today in condemnation and protest against the ongoing massacre of our rights as Palestinians which Facebook is carrying out, our right as Palestinians, not only as a means of informing.”

He said Facebook’s campaign against Palestinian pages started months ago but the organsiation is now quickly implementing its policy which comes in light of an agreement it signed with the Israeli authorities earlier this month.

Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan met with senior Facebook officials on 12 September. In a statement Facebook said: “Online extremism can only be tackled with a strong partnership between policymakers, civil society, academia and companies, and this is true in Israel and around the world.”