Social media firms reject ‘shadow banning’ allegations on Palestinian-related content

Social media firms have responded to allegations of "shadow banning" their users for Palestinian-related content amid the conflict in Gaza, saying that the implication that Big Tech "deliberately and systemically suppress a particular voice" is false.

They have been accused of blocking certain content or users from their online communities since the onset of the war between Israel and Hamas which started in October.

Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, for example, criticized major platforms for allegedly limiting Palestinian-related content about the war.

"It can be nearly impossible to prove that you have been shadow-banned or censored. Yet, it is hard for users to trust platforms that control their content from the shadows, based on vague standards," Queen Rania told the Web Summit in Doha.

They have been criticized for relying too heavily on "automated tools for content removal to moderate or translate Palestine-related content," according to a Human Rights Watch report on the subject.

Hussein Freijeh, the vice president of MENA for Snapchat, told CNBC's Dan Murphy at Web Summit Qatar last week that these firms have "a really important role to play in the region."

"We have all the algorithms in place to moderate the content," Freijeh added, saying the platform also uses a "human component to moderate that content to make sure that it's safe for our community."

As an information war plays out online between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli narratives, platforms like Snapchat, and Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook have become a key source for users seeking content and information about the conflict.

Foreign journalists are not allowed to report from the besieged Gaza Strip, blocking coverage from international media outlets.