#Meta / Coalition Criticizes Meta's Lack of Transparency and Accountability in Content Moderation Amid Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
A coalition of Palestinian and global digital rights groups has expressed concerns over Meta's response regarding its content moderation practices during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The coalition claims that Meta's response failed to provide sufficient transparency and concrete steps to identify and mitigate the negative human rights impacts of its policies and actions. Particular concerns were raised about the potential for over-moderation of Palestinian and Arabic content due to temporary safety measures, such as lowered automated moderation thresholds and algorithmic bias against Arabic language content.
Furthermore, the coalition accused Meta of failing to outline specific actions to prevent the spread of incitement to #genocide, especially from Israeli government officials and politicians, despite international orders and the recent provisional measures issued by the #ICJ.
While welcoming Meta's efforts to allow accountability mechanisms to request extended content retention, the coalition criticized the exclusion of civil society organizations and the lack of transparency on retention timeframes, which could hinder investigations and accountability processes.
The coalition’s response concludes:
[…] Meta must demonstrate a genuine commitment to upholding human rights and protecting all voices on its platforms in these precarious times.
