AI-Driven Genocide: Gaza Under Algorithmic Aggression
In every war, there are enemies known by
name and identity, proudly declaring their weapons, equipment, and strength.
They place most of their cards and soldiers on the table while keeping some
hidden in their pockets, concealing themselves behind masks to launch their
strikes from behind the curtain. They are like hypocrites—not visible foes we
can fight, nor allies we can lean on, nor peaceful parties we can trust.
In Gaza, the battle is not confined to
land, sea, and air, nor to bullets, shells, planes, rockets, and geographic
blockade. It has extended far beyond that to include a digital siege—where
algorithms stand in deadly silence against the truth, hiding its testimony,
muffling its cries, applauding falsehood, legitimizing its tricks, and cloaking
it with the garment of victimhood. These algorithms delete anything that
exposes tyranny and oppression, producing a biased narrative that knows no
fairness and recognizes no justice.
AI Standing in the Way of Truth
Algorithms serve as the brainpower behind
digital platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. They control
the content published on these platforms and are supposed to be
neutral—displaying what users want, showing them what interests them, and
catering to their preferences—because, at the end of the day, they are just
machines.
Yet reality proves otherwise, especially in
cases opposing the major powers controlling these platforms. The Palestinian
cause is a clear witness to such bias, as these powers employ multiple forms of
suppression based on algorithmic prejudice. What appears on digital screens is
far less than what happens on the ground, and what these platforms present is
entirely different from what takes place on the battlefield. Pro-Palestinian
content is rarely shown, often deleted, while content supporting the Zionist banner
is amplified globally.
Tech Tyranny: AI’s Role in Silencing Gaza
Global digital platforms have shifted to a
form of security-style censorship using artificial intelligence through
algorithms. Over time, users have noticed that these platforms automatically
block any content—text, image, or video—containing words or visuals related to
resistance in particular and the Palestinian cause in general. This is known as
algorithmic bias. Even specific words such as “Zionist occupation,” “struggle,”
“Hamas,” “jihad,” “martyrdom,” and “Palestinian casualties” can trigger censorship.
What is striking is the systematic way
these platforms block and suppress any post against the Zionist occupation,
justifying it with excuses like preventing violence, violating community
guidelines, banning graphic imagery, preventing hate speech, and combating
terrorist propaganda—empty pretexts used to silence the truth. Anyone posting
or sharing about the cause risks having their account restricted, comment
privileges removed, or being suspended for periods ranging from one day to 90
days—and in some cases, banned permanently. In their eyes, you become a
criminal, a supporter of violence, resistance, and terrorism!
How Facebook Criminalizes Solidarity
If we trace Facebook’s pattern of
enforcement during and before the wars on Gaza, we find that Gaza has been the
main catalyst for deploying algorithms as a weapon against any online activity
exposing the crimes of the Zionist occupation. These algorithms were designed
to suppress media resistance on social platforms—tightening the noose on
accounts, banning coverage of events like those in Sheikh Jarrah, deleting
content from activists like Mohammed El-Kurd, restricting hashtags such as
“#AlAqsaFlood,” “#GazaUnderAttack,” “#GazaStarves,” suspending Mariam
Barghouti’s account, and—more recently—blocking 130,000 Facebook accounts that
participated in the hashtag “#SaveSheikhJarrah” on the grounds of “violating
community standards.”
American human rights activist Jillian York
has confirmed that Arabic content on social media platforms is far more heavily
monitored than Hebrew content. At the end of 2016, “Israel” encircled media
companies and social networks with a new law imposing enormous financial
penalties on companies that fail to act swiftly on government requests to
delete any Palestinian-related content deemed contrary to its policies or
“encouraging hatred.”
HRW: Meta Suppresses Gaza’s Truth
A report by Human Rights Watch confirmed
that Meta’s policies increasingly and noticeably silence voices supporting the
Palestinian cause on Instagram and Facebook, especially during “Israel’s”
genocidal war on Gaza. The report documented a clear pattern of unjustified
suppression and removal of pro-Palestinian content, even when it involved
peaceful expression or public discussion of Palestinian human rights. Dozens of
posts documenting injuries and Palestinian deaths—of clear news value—were
taken down.
The report stressed that Meta’s censorship
worsens the situation, particularly amid the atrocities and horrific forms of
repression suffocating Palestinian expression. Human Rights Watch reviewed
1,050 cases of online censorship across more than 60 countries and found that
the findings aligned with reports from Palestinian, regional, and international
human rights organizations detailing Meta’s suppression of pro-Palestinian
content.
The report identified six main patterns of
censorship:
1. Account suspension or permanent deletion.
2. Removal of content.
3. Inability to interact with content.
4. Restrictions on features like Facebook/Instagram live
streaming.
5. Inability to follow accounts or tag them.
6. Shadow banning—reducing the visibility of posts
without notifying the user.
Algorithms Shield Genocide and Erase Gaza’s Truth
The consequences of algorithmic bias are
far more dangerous than missiles and bullets, because they:
1. Distort reality and block the world from seeing Gaza’s suffering and
extermination. Events appear in many countries as a “balanced conflict” when,
in truth, there is aggression, killing, and destruction targeting civilians and
cities.
2. Manipulate global public awareness by suppressing painful realities from Gaza while
amplifying the other side’s narrative—weakening global solidarity with the
Palestinian cause.
3. Silence the victim and absolve the
oppressor by banning hashtags like
“#GazaUnderAttack” or posts documenting massacres—thus erasing digital evidence
and protecting the aggressor.
4. Weaken international pressure and
solidarity campaigns by limiting pro-Palestinian
content—diluting public opinion’s ability to push governments toward just
policies, prolonging war and atrocities.
5. Create an unsafe digital environment for Palestinians and their supporters—leading
activists to self-censor out of fear, stifling free expression in the digital
sphere.
6. Weaken Palestine’s digital archive by erasing and restricting content, severely damaging
the historical record and leaving critical gaps for future generations—robbing
them of a complete truth.
It becomes clear, then, that while Gaza’s
homes are bombed with rockets, the truth itself is bombed from the other side
by algorithms. And while the primary enemy may be visible with uniform and
weapon, the more dangerous one remains behind the curtain—distorting events,
erasing facts, reshaping global awareness, and waging an unseen digital war no
less fierce than the one fought on the ground.
Read Also:
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1- Abdelkarim Jelinek and others, Religion,
Thought, and Ethics, available at: https://n9.cl/yc2pn.
3- https://www.ammonnews.net/article/812690.
