During the violence in Gaza, an overwhelming number of Palestinian-related posts were censored by social media platforms Activists who took to social media to spread awareness found that their posts being taken down LONDON: Around 200 Facebook employees signed an open letter last week urging the platform to address mounting criticism that it was censoring Palestinian content and suppressing pro-Palestinian voices. The letter demanded that Facebook take measures to guarantee the equal treatment of pro-Palestinian content and ensure that such posts are not unfairly taken down or pushed lower in the feed. It said: “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 falling short on our promise to protect open expression around the situation in Palestine. We believe Facebook can and should do more to understand our users and work on rebuilding their trust.” During the violence in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine, an overwhelming number of Palestinian-related posts were censored by social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Activists took to social media to spread awareness on what was happening in Palestine and found that their posts being taken down and their accounts deactivated. Last Sunday, Facebook was the target of a coordinated social media campaign launched by pro-Palestine activists in an attempt to push down the Facebook app’s ranking on Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play. Launched in response to Facebook’s censorship of content supporting and promoting Palestine-related news, the campaign was successful in bringing down the platform’s rating to 1.9 stars on the App Store. Meanwhile, after facing mounting accusations of censoring Palestinian content, Instagram announced on Monday that it would be making changes to the way it displays content.