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Instagram suspended a Palestinian journalist's Instagram account weeks after a report found Meta was flagging pro-Palestine content. Omar AL-QATTAA/Getty Images

An Al Jazeera journalist reporting from Gaza said his Instagram account was suspended, just weeks after a damning report found that a Meta executive with ties to Israel was flagging pro-Palestinian content for removal.

On Wednesday, Anas Al-Sharif tweeted that Meta had suspended his Instagram account.

"After the account reached more than 1.2 million followers, and with a view rate exceeding one billion, Meta blocked my Instagram account and closed it completely," he posted, with a screenshot of Instagram's message.

His claim raised eyebrows as it comes just two weeks after The Intercept reported that Meta's Israel and the Jewish Diaspora Policy Chief Jordana Cutler, a former senior Israeli government official, flagged several posts from Students for Justice in Palestine, a group that organizes campus protests, citing the tech company's Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy.

A member of the group's Columbia chapter told The Intercept they recalled Meta had removed multiple posts quoting Ghassan Kanafani, a Palestinian novelist.

Hundreds or social media users denounced Meta's decision to disable Al-Sharif's account, with one X user writing, "The clamp down on Palestinian journalists in Gaza continues."

Another wrote Meta was "complicit" in Israel's ongoing attack on Gaza.

In August, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued an alert stating it was "deeply concerned about the safety of Al Jazeera Arabic northern Gaza correspondent Anas Al Sharif after an Israel Defense Forces' spokesperson accused him of 'presenting a lie' in his coverage of Israel's August 10 airstrike that killed dozens of Gazans in a school building housing Palestinians displaced by the war."

The notice also came months after Israel targeted Al-Sharif's family home in Jabalia, killing his 90-year-old father, per the CPJ.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 137 journalists and media personnel in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon, the CPJ reported.

Meta did not respond to a request for a comment at the time of publication.

Originally published by Latin Times

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