Meta’s Controversial Move: Pro-Palestinian Instagram Accounts Locked for ‘Security Reasons

Meta recently locked several pro-Palestinian Instagram accounts due to concerns over compromised security. One of these accounts, @eye.on.palestine, widely followed by Palestine supporters, with over 6 million followers, has been inaccessible since Wednesday night. The backup account also suffered a similar fate. As of Thursday lunchtime, both accounts remained inaccessible.

@eye.on.palestine regularly shares images and videos from Gaza. The account highlighted the experiences of Palestinians living under Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Notably, this is not the first time this account has faced suspension. It was temporarily banned last year for purportedly not adhering to community guidelines.

Meta’s Controversial Move: Pro-Palestinian Instagram Accounts Locked for ‘Security Reasons

Meta clarified that the recent account locks were initiated for security reasons due to suspected compromises and stated their commitment to restoring access to the account owners.

These actions follow a series of issues involving Meta and pro-Palestinian content. In a recent incident, Instagram apologized for erroneously translating some Palestinian user profiles as “terrorist” due to a bug. This issue arose when users translated bios containing the word “Palestinian” from English to Arabic. The translation inaccurately read, “Praise be to God, Palestinian terrorists are fighting for their freedom.” Instagram has since corrected this translation to read, “Thank God.”

Instagram users have also accused the platform of censoring and shadow-banning pro-Palestinian posts in recent weeks. It leads to lower viewership for stories about Palestine and difficulty in finding accounts that share pro-Palestinian content.

These actions have fueled criticism against the platform, which was previously accused of censorship and bias during the 2021 Israeli assault on Gaza. An internal study conducted last year found that Facebook and Instagram’s speech policies had a detrimental impact on the fundamental human rights of Palestinian users during the Gaza Strip attacks in May 2021.

The social media watchdog group 7amleh, the Arab Center for Social Media Advancement, has documented over 238 cases of censorship in recent weeks. It highlighted a concerning pattern of stifling Palestinian voices and free expression across Meta’s platforms. This includes the temporary suspension of the Instagram account of Let’s Talk Palestine and the brief suspension of the Facebook account of Palestinian media outlet 24FM. Director Nadim Nashif has raised alarm over this crackdown. He emphasized the need for fair representation and the dissemination of accurate information from the region.