"7amleh’s 'Violence Indicator' documents 103,000 instances of hate speech and incitement against Palestinians on social media", 19 October 2023

In light of the recent escalations in the region, including the devastating bombing of "Al-Ahli Arab Hospital” in the heart of Gaza City, which resulted in the death of more than 500 Palestinians and the injury of hundreds, hate speech and incitement in Hebrew targeting Palestinians on social media is on the rise. In this context, 7amleh has documented over 103,000 instances of hate speech and/or incitement in Hebrew out of 120,000 posts collected between October 7th to the 18th... The vast majority of these instances were found on "X", which is allowing the spread of harmful content without sufficient moderation.

63% of the documented instances of hate speech and incitement were based on political affiliations and/or nationalist sentiments, and 34% were rooted in racist bias. The remaining instances included gender-based and religious violence, among others.

7amleh documented an additional 701 violations that targeted Palestinian users and supporters of Palestinian rights since October 7 and until October 18, which have been submitted by users on 7or. ...The violations include 286 cases of account restriction or account takedowns on Palestinian activists, in addition to 415 instances of hate speech and incitement. Among the targeted accounts are official pages of civil society organisations and independent media organisations. Those include Quds News Network... as well as the instagram page of Mutaz Azaiza... Mutaz Azaiza’s page faced several restrictions which were appealed. However, the facebook page of Quds News Network in Arabic got unpublished and permanently removed from the Meta platform.

7amleh also documented hate speech, incitement, and disinformation surrounding the bombing of "Al-Ahli Arab Hospital” on the night of October 17. 7amleh also documented more violations by online platforms aimed at silencing Palestinians  and violating their digital rights and their rights to freedom of expression. This is done by limiting outreach, restricting accounts, as well as content removals and account suspensions.

It is worth noting that most violations aimed at silencing Palestinians occurred on Meta’s platforms (Instagram and Facebook).

At 7amleh, we emphasize that social media companies must not discriminate against Palestinian users. They should not restrict Palestinian content due to political pressure, and must commit to the removal of hate speech and incitement across all platforms, especially as this kind of speech translates into real-world violence committed against Palestinians.