19,000 hate speech and incitement tweets in Hebrew documented on X 

The Arab Centre for the Advancement of Social Media, 7amleh, has documented more than 19,000 cases of hate speech and incitement content in Hebrew on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

According to a statement issued by the Palestinian organisation, there has been a significant increase in this type of content since 7 October, the first day of the recent escalation in Gaza, and the number of such posts continues to rise. The cases documented apparently included various forms of harmful content, with 50 per cent categorised as hate speech and 30 per cent categorised as fake news or promoting violence and incitement. Just under 50 per cent of these tweets were politically motivated, while 32 per cent contained racial bias. The remainder included gender and religious discrimination.

Moreover, 357 violations have been reported through 7or — the Palestinian Observatory for Digital Rights Violations — from 7 to 11 October. These included 128 cases of account restrictions on Palestinian activists and supporters, and 229 cases of hate speech and incitement, which primarily targeted residents of Gaza, calling for the burning and destruction of the area and the killing of civilians. “7amleh continues to report all violations to social media companies and has resolved many cases already.”

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The organisation has been monitoring widespread internet shutdowns throughout Gaza since last Saturday due to Israel’s targeting of the enclave’s telecommunications and electricity infrastructure. An Israeli air strike destroyed Al-Watan Tower, which housed the main internet providers in Gaza, and the headquarters of the Palestine Telecommunications Company, while also cutting power to the grid.

“This deliberate targeting of internet and electricity companies constitutes a serious violation of Palestinians’ digital rights, in addition to infringing upon freedom of expression, the right to access information, and the right to communicate,” 7amleh pointed out. “Internet infrastructure plays a crucial role in connecting individuals during crises and providing necessary information and support to them.”

The Israeli government is taking advantage of the current international sentiment to continue exerting pressure on social media companies to censor the Palestinian narrative and silence voices critical of Israeli policies. “Palestinian content and those advocating for Palestinian rights are continuously subjected to deletion and restrictions, all while false and misleading news spreads rampantly across online platforms, as is common during times of crisis.”

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Nadim Nashif, General Director of 7amleh, has urged X to take effective and serious measures to remove hate speech and inciting content from its platform. “These tweets are classified as hate speech and incitement, and can potentially translate into real-world attacks on Palestinians, as previously seen with incitement on the same platform, leading to organised attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian communities both in the West Bank and Israel,” he explained. “There is concern that similar attacks may happen again.”

7amleh would like to emphasise the importance of reporting to 7or all cases of hate speech, incitement to violence and fake news in the digital space. This can be done through 7amleh’s website at 7or.7amleh.org.

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