Internal data reportedly reveals that the Israeli government has significantly influenced content moderation on Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram, leading to widespread removal of posts critical of Israel or supportive of Palestinians since October 7, 2023. Information suggests Meta has agreed to 94 percent of takedown requests originating from Israel during this period.
Israel has become the primary global source of these requests, and Meta’s compliance has resulted in expanded automatic content removal, contributing to a large-scale censorship effort. Sources indicate that government takedown requests typically focus on content within their own borders, but Israel’s efforts have unusually succeeded in removing speech in many other countries. Concerns exist that this pattern will influence Meta’s future content moderation, as its artificial intelligence systems learn from these takedown actions.
Data provided by individuals familiar with Meta’s internal operations details the workings of the company’s “Integrity Organization,” which handles platform safety. Takedown requests (TDRs) allow governments and others to ask for removal of content allegedly violating Meta’s rules. The documents reportedly show that 95 percent of Israel’s requests cite Meta’s policies on terrorism or violence and incitement, disproportionately targeting users in Arab and Muslim-majority nations.
Multiple sources familiar with Meta’s internal processes reportedly confirmed the data’s validity. According to this information, Meta removed over 90,000 posts following Israeli government TDRs, often within seconds. The company also increased automated takedowns since October 7, affecting an estimated 38.8 million additional posts on Facebook and Instagram through removal, banning, or reduced visibility.
Leaked information indicates that all Israeli government TDRs since October 7 used identical complaint text, referencing Israeli counter-terrorism and privacy laws, regardless of the specific content. These requests, often linking to multiple pieces of content, reportedly did not detail the alleged violations in the content itself.
Meta’s system processes reports differently based on the source. Government reports receive higher priority and usually involve human review, which then informs the AI system. However, it is suggested that Meta has largely complied with Israel’s requests without standard human reviews, while still using these actions to train its AI. A Human Rights Watch report found that out of 1,050 documented cases of removed or suppressed content related to the conflict, nearly all involved peaceful pro-Palestine expression.
An individual within Meta’s Integrity Organization reportedly confirmed internal findings that automated systems frequently removed pro-Palestinian content that did not violate policies. When these issues were raised internally, leadership indicated a preference for removing potentially problematic content over risking leaving violating material online.
Several key Meta executives have connections to the Israeli government. The head of the Integrity Organization, Guy Rosen, previously served in an Israeli military intelligence unit. The Policy Organization, which sets rules enforced by the Integrity Organization, is now headed by Joel Kaplan, a former US official with past involvement in addressing online content with Israeli officials. Jordana Cutler, Meta’s Director of Public Policy for Israel and the Jewish Diaspora and a former advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has reportedly been involved in flagging pro-Palestine content, including material related to the Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani.
The leaked data shows Israel’s takedown requests predominantly targeted users outside its borders, mainly in Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Algeria, and Yemen. In total, users from over 60 countries have reported censorship related to Palestinian content. Only 1.3 percent of Israel’s TDRs involved content from Israeli users, differing from countries like Malaysia and Brazil, which primarily target domestic content. Individuals familiar with Meta state the company has been aware of Israel’s approach for years but has allowed the government a pathway to pursue this large-scale content removal campaign.
