As Meta held its annual shareholder meeting online Wednesday, human rights groups coordinated online protests calling the company to put an end to what they call systemic censorship of pro-Palestinian content, both on the company’s social networks and within its own workforce.
The day of action comes after nearly 200 Meta employees signed a letter to Mark Zuckerberg this month demanding the company put an end to alleged censorship of internal voices advocating for Palestinian rights. The employees called for more transparency around alleged biases on public facing platforms and issued a statement urging for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Activists say after years of urging Meta and other platforms to exercise more fairness and transparency around content moderation, it is important to put pressure on shareholders, who may have more influence over the company than the public.
“This problem has been going on for at least a decade, and we have not been seeing any real improvement – the policies are the same,” said Nadim Nashif, founder and director of social media watchdog group 7amleh, which helped coordinate the action. “We have seen in the recent conflict that it is getting worse, and we need to try other strategies, including shareholder engagement.”
The public statement from Meta employees released this month comes after a separate petition that was circulated internally gathered more than 450 signatures in 2023. The employee behind that letter claimed she was investigated by the company’s human resources department for violating company rules, a claim echoed in the newest letter.
Such actions from Meta have created a “hostile and unsafe work environment” for Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and “anti-genocide” colleagues at the company, the letter said.
“Many have tried to articulate this through posts on Workplace only to be censored, rebuffed and/or penalized,” the letter said. “Feedback shared directly with leadership on Workplace Chat has been met with dismissiveness.”
Employees cited the company’s failure to address external allegations of censorship, including findings from an external audit in 2023 that determined Meta repeatedly censored pro-Palestinian voices in response to a conflict in the region three years go. The company has also “ignored reasonable requests for transparency” on content policies, the employees allege, including a letter sent by Senator Elizabeth Warren in December 2023.
On Wednesday’s investor call, Meta sidestepped the issue of Palestinian censorship entirely, touting its artificial intelligence projects and fielding questions from shareholders on controlling disinformation. The company did not immediately respond to request for comment regarding the letters and petitions circulating related to its moderation of Palestine-related content.
