As an outsider to the struggles of Palestine and its people, keeping up with the news of Israeli genocide against Palestinians and their on-ground realities and sharing it with my networks is an act of solidarity that I have been engaged in for the past one month. As a Pakistani, I’m not alien to violence, but never in my life have I imagined witnessing dismembered bodies of children, women and men while the entire world turned a blind eye.
Attending protests, raising awareness and my voice for those whose voices are being killed or silenced is all I can do, and all that I have been doing to add to the sea of voices standing with Palestine and Palestinians around the world. But how free is any voice when it is silenced in the age of digital apartheid that we live in, where platforms controlled by self-serving tech companies are the primary avenues to any form of audience?
Meta claims to respect and promote freedom of expression of its users while also repeatedly apologising for not respecting said freedoms every time it messes up and gets caught; it’s not surprising that it is actively blocking the voices of Palestinians and those who are raising awareness on the Israeli genocide of Palestinians through its social media platforms. It has time and again come under the scrutiny of policy makers for its platforms’ role in inciting violence and promoting genocide in geographies around the world.
Continue reading on GenderIT.org.
Image: A wall in Bethlehem, Palestine. Photo via Wikipedia
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