Access Now: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube must end attack on MENA’s critical voices

A coalition of 43 human rights organisations, journalists, and activists from across the globe sent an open letter to social media platforms to cease the encroachment on dissident voices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The letter condemned the policies and content moderation procedures adopted by these platforms to knock down critical voices from marginalised and oppressed communities across the region. Access Now, MENA Policy Manager, Marwa Fatafta stated:

We’ve had a decade-long fight for change. People marched, people resisted, and people died to create a path for equality and justice. Yet today, it’s social media — platforms meant for open discourse and the exchange of ideas — that are silencing the voices of revolutionaries in the Middle East and North Africa.

The coalition called upon Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to adopt five measures to enhance context based content moderation and avoid arbitrary or unfair discrimination.