Meta blocks pro-Palestine account on Instagram, users accuse it of shadowbanning

Meta said it has blocked a prominent pro-Palestinian account on Instagram citing security reasons.

Eye on Palestine (@eye.on.palestine), which has more than 6 million followers and is popular among Palestine supporters, was not available as of Thursday (Oct 26).

Its official backup account, @eye.on.palestine2, which was recently created to bypass shadowbanning— a covert activity that limits the post’s visibility—had also gone dark.

Both the accounts were also inaccessible on Facebook and Threads as well.

The accounts focused on sharing invaluable first-hand accounts of the situation in Gaza, including videos and images of injured people.

The material was generally shared by unverified international journalists.

“These accounts were initially locked for security reasons after signs of compromise, and we’re working to make contact with the account owners to make sure they have access,” Meta said, according to the Guardian newspaper.

Users suspect Meta gagging pro-Palestine voice

Meta’s decision to close down the accounts drew angry responses from followers on social media X, who calledthe move an example of anti-Palestinian censorship.

Initially, Meta said on Wednesday that it had disabled the accounts because of security concerns.

“These accounts were initially locked for security reasons after signs of compromise, and we’re working to make contact with the account owners to ensure they have access,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement.

“We did not disable these accounts because of any content they were sharing,” he said.

Later in an update on Thursday morning, Stone said the company had been able to reach the accounts' administrators and that the accounts would be able to reactivate.

Shadowbanning pro-Palestine accounts

“These accounts were initially locked for security reasons after signs of compromise,” Stone said in a text message. “We’ve helped the account owners regain access and they can reactivate their accounts.”

But these accounts are still unavailable.

The development comes at a time when Instagram has been accused of shadowbanning several pro-Palestine post, with users sharing examples of stories about Palestine receiving significantly fewer viewers, or accounts of users who share pro-Palestinian content not being searchable on the social network.

The social media watchdog group 7amleh, the Arab Center for Social Media Advancement, which has been monitoring cases related to the silencing of Palestinian voices, has documented more than 238 censorship cases in recent weeks, reports the Guardian.

(With inputs from agencies)

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