Since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its latest military offensive on the Gaza Strip, a parallel battle has been unfolding online. According to a recent report by DropSite News, technology giant Meta has removed over 90,000 pro-Palestinian posts from Facebook and Instagram, allegedly in response to takedown requests from the Israeli government.
The data, reportedly sourced from whistleblowers with access to internal records, indicates that Meta complied with 94 percent of Israeli takedown requests.
Most of the targeted accounts were based in over 60 countries, mainly Arab and Muslim-majority nations. In contrast, only 1.3 percent of the takedown requests were related to Israeli users.
Much of the removed content was flagged under Meta’s internal categories related to “violence and incitement” or other security-related concerns.
While Meta has not officially confirmed the figures, it has defended its moderation policies repeatedly, claiming they are designed to promote safety and curb incitement to violence.
With mainstream media offering limited coverage, Palestinians have relied on social media to share evidence of the crisis in Gaza. However, alleged Israeli influence and Meta’s enforcement have turned these platforms into spaces of censorship, silencing Palestinian voices while allowing anti-Palestinian content to remain.
The report follows an earlier investigation by The Grayzone, which found that Meta employs over 100 individuals with past links to Israeli military and intelligence units — some recruited through programmes that allow non-Israelis to join the Israeli army.
Since October 2023, more than 50,000 Palestinians — the majority women and children — have been killed, with over 113,200 injured in the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza.
