Facebook employees call for an investigation of ban on Palestinian posts

Around 200 Facebook employees have signed a petition calling for the platform to investigate content moderation that led several Palestinians to believe that their voices were censored. The petition notes that ‘as highlighted by employees, the press, and members of congress, and as reflected in our declining app store rating, our users and community at large feel that we are failing short on our promise to protect open expression around the situation in Palestine’. Pro-Palestine activists have embraced a campaign to give one-star reviews of Facebook in the app store. Facebook employees have required in the petition a third-party audit of the content moderation around Arabic and Muslin content. In addition, the petition considers that a post published by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling Palestinian civilians terrorist should be reviewed by the oversight board.