Digital Rights Weekly Update: 29 August - 4 September

New 7amleh Report: Meta’s Role in Amplifying Harmful Content Against Palestinians During Genocide in Gaza

7amleh

September 2, 2025, 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media has released a new report titled “Meta’s Role in Amplifying Harmful Content During Genocide in Gaza.” The report exposes the failure of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, to protect Palestinians from incitement and hate speech in Hebrew. It reveals the company’s biased policies and complicity in enabling such discourse during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, while disregarding the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice on January 26, 2024, which explicitly called for the prevention and punishment of “direct and public incitement to commit genocide.” The report highlights that Meta, the world’s largest social media company with 3.35 billion daily active users, plays a crucial role in the Palestinian digital ecosystem. However, despite this centrality, the company failed to meet its responsibilities by allowing inciting and dehumanizing Hebrew content to proliferate -including posts from Israeli politicians and government officials- while simultaneously imposing heightened restrictions on Palestinian content through removals, account suspensions, and systematic algorithmic penalties.

Google’s $45 Million Contract With Netanyahu's Office to Spread Israeli Propaganda

Drop Site

Records show that the Israeli government similarly spent $3 million (NIS 10 million) for an advertising campaign with X. The French and Israeli advertising platform Outbrain/Teads is also set to receive roughly $2.1 million (NIS 7 million). The ads have aired in response to increasing global outcry over the deteriorating situation in Gaza. In August, the UN formally declared a famine in Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the leading global authority on food security, projected the threshold for famine would be crossed in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in the coming weeks, stating "this Famine is entirely man-made, it can be halted and reversed.” The UN aid coordination office OCHA further warned on Friday of “a descent into a massive famine” in the Gaza Strip.

From Silicon Valley to Gaza: Microsoft’s Cloud could be Israel’s War Machine

Sify

Israel’s war with Palestine has stretched beyond physical borders. According to verified reports by The Guardian, Israel has been using sophisticated digital systems supported by Microsoft to enable surveillance, data processing and targeting operations. Microsoft’s Azure along with Israeli AI tools like Lavender are being used in warfare and this has raised several ethical and humanitarian questions. According to the investigation report, an Israeli military intelligence unit called Unit 8200 has been using a dedicated, segregated section within Microsoft’s Azure cloud to store enormous quantities of Palestinian phone calls since 2022. It all began with a 2021 meeting between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Unit 8200’s commander Yossi Sariel. The system in place allows the collection and storage of “millions of mobile phone calls made each day by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.” The cloud infrastructure provides “near-limitless storage” and findings from the report show that the archive spans approximately 11,500 terabytes, which is equal to a whopping 200 million hours of phone calls.

Coventry council to review Palantir contract after protests about IDF link

The Guardian

The first UK council to appoint the US technology company Palantir to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) into its systems is reviewing the contract after protests by workers and councillors over its links to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The review of the £500,000-a-year deal with the company co-founded by the Donald Trump donor Peter Thiel was announced by Coventry city council’s Labour leadership on Tuesday after the Guardian first reported concerns. Palantir is also involved in the US government’s immigration crackdown and helps to manage data in the NHS. Trade unions representing teachers and other workers protested against the contract outside a full council meeting on Tuesday, when they were told by deputy council leader Abdul Khan: “We are reviewing the Palantir contract … and I personally agree with the sentiments regarding the divestment of all funds which are being used in the genocide all across the world, particularly at the moment in Gaza. So, whenever this is brought before the council, I will be supporting your concerns and agreeing with what you’ve said.”