In practice, Israel has long been shielded by an array of restrictions for social media users. Posts risk being deleted if they fall foul of rules against fake news, disinformation, offensive content, bullying, support for terrorism, hate speech and incitement. But supposed violations often appear unrelated to matters of truth or falsehood, or right or wrong and instead accord with Israel's status as a valued client state of the US.
Hate Speech RulesThe only meaningful difference between the two cases - aside from the fact that one set of abuses has been going on far longer - is that Israel's crimes are largely supported by the western political and media establishments.
Calling for violence against Putin and Russians aids western foreign policy, which has been goading Moscow by expanding Nato to Russia's doorstep for more than two decades.
By contrast, calls for violence in the context of Israel, risk highlighting the West's long-running complicity in Israel's crimes.
But the tech giants' hypocrisy is even more glaring. It is not just that threats against Israelis or Israeli leaders - unlike those against Russians - incur an instant ban from any platform on which they are posted. The truth is that, in the case of Israel and Palestine, simple criticism of Israel - or even pride in being a Palestinian - can lead to a suspension or deletion.
Take the decision in 2020 by Instagram to remove a post by model Bella Hadid. All she had done was show a photo of her father's US passport listing his birthplace as Palestine. Her comment stated: "I am proud to be Palestinian."
Instagram, however, claimed the post violated "community guidelines on harassment or bullying" and regulations on "hate speech". After Hadid kicked up a storm, Instagram backed down.
But aside from famous models, the very people who have helped spur Meta's profits, ordinary users are likely to find a far less sympathetic ear. Silicon Valley's hostility towards expressions of support for Palestinians was particularly stark last May, when Israel bombed Gaza for 11 days.
Hundreds of Palestinians were de-platformed by Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, when they criticised the bombardment or the ongoing evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, a flashpoint for Palestinian protests.
Among those suspended by Instagram was Mona al-Kurd, a prominent Palestinian activist who has campaigned against the evictions. Facebook also took down a post by a Palestinian American, Alia Taqieddin, advertising a solidarity march for Palestine in Seattle.
Meanwhile, Instagram removed posts about al-Aqsa Mosque, a sacred site in Jerusalem for Palestinians and Muslims, which Israel has been encircling with Jewish settlers for decades. After the mosque became a centre for protests in May, the tech company mistakenly flagged it as a terrorist organisation.
Climate of CensorshipMore than 30 human rights groups protested the wave of suspensions last May, describing them as an intensification of an existing climate of censorship faced by Palestinians.
That view was echoed by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) last October: "Facebook has suppressed content posted by Palestinians and their supporters speaking out about human rights issues in Israel and Palestine," it observed.
HRW cited an example of Instagram removing as "hate speech" a photograph of a building captioned simply: "This is a photo of my family's building before it was struck by Israeli missiles on Saturday May 15, 2021. We have three apartments in this building." The accounts of Palestinian news agencies and journalists have also been repeatedly shut down.
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