Are major online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and TikTok engaged in censoring accounts or deliberately limiting the visibility of pro-Palestine content? Numerous social media users are claiming that a practice commonly referred to as shadowbanning is at play. Writers, activists, journalists, filmmakers, and everyday users worldwide have reported that platforms are concealing posts featuring hashtags such as “FreePalestine” and “IStandWithPalestine,” along with messages expressing solidarity with civilian Palestinians, who have been under siege for the past two months. Certain users have specifically accused Instagram, owned by Meta, of arbitrarily removing posts merely mentioning Palestine, citing a violation of “community guidelines.” Complaints include instances where Instagram Stories about protests supporting Palestine in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area were allegedly hidden. Additionally, there have also been reports of users expressing concern about the term “terrorist” appearing near their Instagram biographies. On 15 October, in a post on X, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone attributed the diminished reach of posts to a bug. “This bug affected accounts equally around the globe and had nothing to do with the subject matter of the content – and we fixed it…
