Meta accused of systematically silencing Palestinian voices on Instagram and Facebook

Jerusalem-based journalist Faten Elwan, with a sizable Instagram following, says her content now receives only minimal visibility after a series of unexplained suspensions that she links to her coverage of the Israeli occupation. A recent analysis titled “Platformicide of Palestine 2021-2025,” produced by 7amleh and Utrecht University, catalogued more than 3,500 cases where Palestinian accounts were removed, restricted, or shadow-banned, often without a cited policy breach.

The study highlights the frequent invocation of Meta’s Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy, especially against journalists, and describes the practice as a structural effort to erase Palestinian digital presence. Elwan’s own attempts to raise the issue with Meta were met with what she describes as dismissive responses, and her backup accounts were swiftly disabled. The report warns that such suppression hampers journalists’ ability to document the Gaza conflict, undermining evidence gathering for international accountability mechanisms like the UN’s Berkeley Protocol. Advocacy groups note that Meta’s own Trusted Partner programme has failed to secure meaningful recourse for affected users.