Facebook is more concerned about protecting Palestinians from hate speech than about hosting terrorist propaganda on its site.
On December 16, Israeli PM Netanyahu’s son Yair was quickly suspended for 24 hours for ranting about Palestinians. By contrast, it has taken years for pro-terrorist Facebook accounts to be shut down (if ever), heating up debate over Facebook’s censorship.
After two Israeli soldiers were killed by a Palestinian shooter, Yair vowed that they would be “avenged” and “There will never be peace with the monsters in human form known since 1964 as ‘Palestinians.’” He has also critiqued multiculturalism stating that Iceland and Japan don’t suffer from terrorism because “coincidentally there are no Muslims living there.”
These two posts merited a suspension from Facebook. Netanyahu posted to Twitter, saying that Facebook leadership was “thought police.” He bluntly proclaimed, “I basically hate leftists to the same degree they hate me. And I wish for them exactly the same as they wish for me.”
Facebook responded with statements that it removes posts “for anyone posting similar content about any protected characteristic.” and that “Facebook does not allow hate speech on the platform and will continue to enforce its policy.” The issue is that Facebook and social media in general clearly are far quicker to remove hate speech against some groups than others. The whole concept of a “protected characteristic” or “protected group” is a relative idea, usually based upon the employees own political perspectives.
By contrast, Facebook allows actual hate preachers who have inspired terror attacks to thrive. Brahim Belkaid is the leader of a banned Islamist group that has been accused of inspiring at least 140 jihadis to join terror groups abroad, yet he is still using Facebook to spread his messages. He confidently taunts the system, posing with a washing detergent called “ISIS” with a smile or brazenly posting an image of a sword, bullets, and the phrase “Jihad: the Only Solution.”
But clearly, defending Palestine is more important to Facebook.
