Tuesday March 19th, 2024
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Israel Wants to Force Facebook to Delete Anti-Israel Posts

The Israeli government is drafting a law that allows it to delete Facebook posts it deems threatening to the state's national security.

Staff Writer

In the craziest thing we have seen in a while, the Israeli government is pushing for legislation to force social media giant Facebook to delete anti-Israel posts, reports Newsweek.

Facebook’s guidelines allow governments to ask the social network to restrict access to content that “violates their laws” and it will either grant their request or decline it based on their own judgment. The Israeli government wants to forgo this process by taking matters into their own hands and forcing the deletion of posts they deem threatening to Israel’s national security.

The law has been drafted after Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked - who holds very controversial views – met with representatives of the social network to discuss posts they claim “incite violence” against the Jewish state.

The move came after stabbings, shootings, and car ramming attacks that claimed the lives of 33 Israelis – including a 13-year-old girl who was stabbed to death in her sleep – and two US citizens to which Israeli forces reacted by killing at least 198 Palestinians.

In the meantime, the Israeli government will be retaliating by building more settlements as $12.8 million will reportedly go to expand illegal outposts in Hebron. 

Many in Israel criticised the law, saying it was the continuation of settlement building and the brutal military occupation that motivated these attacks, not the Facebook posts.

(Photo Credit: AP /Jeff Chiu)