New Bill Would Give Israeli Government Ability To Remove Facebook Posts

In an era of increased carefulness regarding Facebook’s ability to politically influence its users, one country may enact a law akin to censorship of the social network. Israel’s government is set to hold a final vote on a law that would give the government authority to censor social media posts via court orders later this week, according to Bloomberg.

The bill, which has been in the works since 2016, would give the Israeli government more power to “remove content liable to lead to acts of terror and murder,” according to a statement from Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan.

If approved, the government would be able to get a court order to remove a piece of content it sees as objectionable within 48 hours.

“Israel is fighting and will continue to fight terrorism, also on the internet,” Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said of the policy, according to Bloomberg.

The Israeli government has long been in the habit of requesting social networks like Facebook and Twitter to remove content that it sees as “incitement.” Earlier this year, Twitter (TWTR) shares fell by 11 percent after Shaked threatened legal action over the site’s reluctance to remove posts the Israeli government found inflammatory. There were more than 12,000 such requests from the Israeli government in 2017.

Israel made similar requests to Facebook in large quantities last year, with almost 2,500 in December alone. Facebook, unlike Twitter, was far more compliant with Israel’s requests, agreeing to remove nearly every post the government flagged as potentially inciting violence.

While Israel emphasized the need to remove posts that could inspire violence from groups like Hamas, opponents of the bill accused it of giving the government power to censor free speech. There have been concerns in recent years regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu’s administration cracking down on negative press coverage and social media content.

Many of these concerns have centered on the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinian citizens. Bloomberg’s report mentioned December’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem as a flashpoint of censorship on social media. The move inspired widespread protests, which led to the killings of dozens of Palestinians on the Gaza border when the new embassy opened in May.

Facebook has appeared to more vigilantly censor inflammatory posts towards Israel than similarly violent posts aimed at Palestinians, according to the Intercept.

If approved, the bill would be one of the first of its kind in the world. It would give the government authority to request court orders to remove posts without evidence. Many countries have the ability to remove social media content, but few as broadly as the bill would give the Israeli government.