Meta to remove posts targeting 'Zionists' under hate speech policy

Meta announced on Tuesday it will start removing posts against "Zionists" as part of an expansion of its "hate speech" policy. 

The social media giant said its new policy was designed to prevent the use of "Zionist" as a way to express "antisemitic views" towards Jews and Israelis.

"We will now remove content that targets 'Zionists' with dehumanizing comparisons, calls for harm, or denials of existence on the basis that 'Zionist' in those instances often appears to be a proxy for Jewish or Israeli people," Meta said in a blog post.

Meta said it will remove content attacking "Zionists" when — rather than being tied to that political movement — it is pegged to antisemitic stereotypes such as claims Jews run the world or control the media.

The company has faced criticism for its approach to content related to the Middle East, with many raising concerns over the suppression of pro-Palestinian content and inconsistencies in enforcing hate speech policies on Facebook.

Earlier this month, Meta said it was modifying its hate speech policy to take a more nuanced approach when it comes to whether the use of the Arabic word "shaheed," which is commonly translated as "martyr", is hate speech.

An independent oversight board referred to as a top court for Meta content moderation challenges had recommended the change and welcomed an easing of what has "effectively been a blanket ban" on the term "shaheed".

Meta's content moderation and decision-making processes have come under scrutiny recently over their perceived lack of transparency and external oversight.

This criticism has been amplified by instances where the company failed to detect hate speech in advertisements and posts, including those that incite violence and genocide against ethnic groups.