YouTube and big tech censorship threatens global accountability, Palestinian rights groups say

 

After the U.S. imposed sanctions, YouTube took down over 700 videos from prominent Palestinian human rights groups. Rights advocates say this censorship goes beyond Palestine and affects the future of international justice and accountability.

In a stark escalation undermining global efforts to preserve accountability for Israeli violations, Palestinian civil society organizations have been hit by an unprecedented campaign to erase their digital archives and silence their documentation work.

What began as a U.S. political decision has now translated into sweeping and coordinated digital censorship, threatening decades of human rights documentation that formed the backbone of Palestinian legal submissions to international courts.

For years, Palestinian human rights groups have meticulously collected evidence of Israeli abuses, from targeted killings and home demolitions to torture and violations against detainees. Much of this work was compiled and submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of ongoing investigations.

Yet, in recent weeks, YouTube removed more than 700 videos belonging to three of the most prominent Palestinian organizations: Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, Al-Haq, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). These videos included testimonies from survivors, footage of military attacks, and forensic investigations that had become foundational to global human rights reporting.

The takedowns were triggered by U.S. sanctions imposed under Executive Order 14203, a measure introduced during the Trump administration to obstruct the ICC’s investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes

This digital crackdown does not occur in isolation. It follows years of systematic attempts to delegitimize Palestinian civil society, including the designation of several leading organizations as “terrorist institutions” by the Israeli government in 2021 and their subsequent outlawing by the Israeli military commander in the occupied West Bank. This classification paved the way for today’s intensified campaign to dismantle Palestinian documentation work both on the ground and online.  (more...)

YouTube and big tech censorship threatens global accountability, Palestinian rights groups say