Friend,

The mainstream media is failing to fully report on the recent atrocities perpetrated against Palestinians by the apartheid Israeli government.

Palestinians had nowhere else to turn to make their voices heard other than social media. They shared the voices of children in Gaza, the stories of the families in East Jerusalem in tears as they were being forcibly removed from their homes, and the images and videos of violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque as Israeli forces attacked worshippers.

Hearing directly from Palestinians on the ground is how the American people and the international community found out about these attacks and human rights violations.

We've learned that as Palestinians on the ground in East Jerusalem and Gaza were posting videos and images of the attacks―and as activists in the U.S. were posting in support of Palestinian human rights―popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok were censoring content and disabling user accounts.¹

I’ve sent a letter to these social media platforms’ parent companies demanding they immediately end their censorship of Palestinian political speech. Join me. Sign the petition today >>

Just as disturbing is a new report from The New York Times, which explains that even as Facebook was censoring and shutting down Palestinian user accounts, the Facebook-owned WhatsApp―an online messaging platform―was being used by extremist Israeli groups to organize “a mass street brawl against Palestinian citizens of Israel.”² This accompanied the Israeli police’s new wave of mass arrests targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel who’ve protested for their rights in recent weeks.³

This is an outrageous double standard, protecting and upholding the military occupation and apartheid. We must hold Facebook and other social media platforms accountable.

Join me in signing the petition to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok to stop censoring Palestinian political speech.

The recent attacks left hundreds of Palestinians dead, including dozens of children. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been left homeless, struggling to find basic necessities such as food and water.

It’s been less than one week since a ceasefire was called in Israel and Palestine, but Palestinians are still living under continued violence of the Israeli government’s occupation. The international community is starting to look away, and transnational social media corporations are hiding the truth from us. We must continue to hold the far-right apartheid Israeli government accountable, and that includes protecting Palestinians’ political speech and sharing Palestinian voices on the ground.

People in power have always found free speech threatening, since it’s a central part of movements for change and liberation. Now that we have more opportunities than ever to hear and share stories from marginalized communities, we must protect our ability to do so.

Thank you for being by my side as we fight for human rights at home and abroad.

-Rashida

P.S. If you had social media posts deleted or had your user account disabled after posting in support of Palestinian human rights, click here to get connected with Palestine Legal, which is documenting instances of censorship.

¹ https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/palestine-israel-censorship-facebook-twitter-instagram-7amleh-b1851328.html
² https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/19/technology/israeli-clashes-pro-violence-groups-whatsapp.html
³ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/a-war-declaration-palestinians-in-israel-decry-mass-arrests