Ramallah- Palestine- On Sunday evening, 12 March 2023, Meta/Facebook management suspended Facebook page of Wattan Media Network (Wattan). Wattan’s Facebook page is one of the Wattan’s most important digital platforms that has more than 3.6 million followers from Palestine and other world countries. Suspending Wattan’s Facebook account by Meta’s management is a part of its war actions waged against Palestinian content for taking down and removing Palestinian national narrative. Wattan’s Facebook page has been a platform used for posting news, broadcasting media programs, spreading the Palestinian narrative, and reporting Palestinian stories and developments to the whole world.
Wattan considers this Meta’s offensive action as a flagrant violation of all international treaties and conventions that guarantee freedom of opinion and expression for every single human being. This practice Meta took against Wattan’s Facebook account reflects the double-standard policy it adopts to systematically targets and censors Palestinian voices and narratives restricting their reach to the international audience. Meta’s management does not adopt this policy or take this kind of offensive actions against Israeli social media accounts that are full of bloody, hate speech and racist content against the Palestinians. Hence, Wattan is stressing the fact that it will not surrender to Meta’s policy which will fail in hindering the spread of the Palestinian narrative and exposure of all violations committed by Israeli occupation on the ground.
Meta’ s management violates the principals of freedoms of press, speech and expression through its arbitrary-mannered policy that continually violates and fights the Palestinian content. Furthermore, Facebook's anti-Palestine systematic practice is an integral part of the Israeli occupation policy against Palestinian media since Meta’s policy continually targets the Palestinian media outlets that Israel fails to attack as Wattan. Wattan has successively been attacked by Israeli occupation during the past 20 years in attempts to silence its voice. In 2012, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed Wattan’s offices based in Ramallah confiscating its broadcasting devices and other electronic and technical equipment and stealing its archives, while IOF have not returned back those confiscated equipment and devices yet. In 2002, IOF raided Wattan offices and detained its journalist team. During that raid, IOF robbed Wattan’s broadcasting equipment, after they had been occupying Wattan’s office for 40 days destroying its furniture and confiscating its archive.
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The international human rights institutions and International Federation of Journalists are urgently needed to immediately intervene to practice pressure on Meta’s management to stop its continuous systematic violations similar to those violations committed by Israeli occupation against Palestinian media and journalists. They should also demand Meta’s management to stop its complicity with Israeli occupation and immediately retreat its decision of suspending Wattan’s page to allow millions of followers and audience enjoy their right in following Wattan’s Facebook page and keep them informed about latest developments.
Wattan’s management considers that the removal of its Facebook page is not the first violation committed against its Facebook page by Meta’s management as there were many violations that had been committed before as restricting the page’s reach and removing many of its content. Yet, Meta management’s yesterday action of full removal of Wattan’s Facebook page requires high level of interventions needed to oblige Meta’s management to stop adopting this doubled -standard policy.
During its 26-year lifetime, Wattan has been exposed to many attacks and violations as storming its offices, destroying its furniture, and robbing its broadcasting devices and equipment. Besides, many pressures had been practiced on Wattan as arresting and assaulting its journalists, but these actions and practices were unsuccessful to silence its voice or weaken its freedom, belief in the influence of free media and commitments towards its local and international audiences.
Wattan’s management considers this violation, committed by Meta’s management as a biased policy supporting the Israeli occupation in fighting the Palestinian narrative. This kind of biased policy impedes the work of Palestinian media in documenting and exposing Israeli crimes and it is also complex and flagrant violation of freedoms of press and expression. Wattan stresses the fact that this biased policy also affects the Palestinian media and journalists and violates the digital rights of Palestinians. Wattan is hereby assuring its audience that it will pursue its professional role and those policies targeting Wattan will not silence its voice which will remain loud representing voiceless audience, groups and individuals
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Board of Directors
Wattan Media Network
Ramallah, Palestine
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