Despite Talk of Free Speech, X is Suspending Palestinian Accounts2 min read

Despite talk of free speech, X appears to be muting and censoring Palestinian voices through suspending pro-Palestine accounts and curtailing the reach of content critical of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Elon Musk’s vision for free speech on X failed the test by Israel-Gaza war misinformation and censorship.

Authors, activists, journalists, filmmakers and regular users around the world have said posts containing hashtags like “FreePalestine” and “IStandWithPalestine” as well as messages expressing support for civilian Palestinians killed by Israeli forces are being shadow-banned by X just like the other social media giants well-known of their censorship of pro-Palestine voices.

Yesterday, Al Qassam — Hamas’ military wing — made a Twitter/X account that reached 100’s of thousands of followers in a matter few hours and then got permanently banned by X before audience even had enough time to notice.

In response, Musk wrote on X: “This was a tough call. While many government leaders, including in the USA, do call for killing people, we have a “UN exemption rule”; if a government is recognized by the UN, we will not suspend their accounts. Hamas is not recognized as a government by the UN, so was suspended.”

Claims that X has been shadow banning pro-Palestinian accounts

Shadow banning, in simple terms, is used to restrict or limit a user’s activity and reach instead of outright banning them – all without informing the user. It is used as a content-moderating technique.

Also known as ghost banning, stealth banning and comment ghosting, this action can result in less or no visibility for a user: for example, a user may appear to be able to post on message boards, but these posts could be distributed in a limited manner or be outright invisible to everyone else.

Several claims by hundreds of X users accusing that the platform is shadow-banning their accounts and ultimately any pro-Palestine posts.

If you would like to comment on this article or anything else you have seen on Carthage Magazine, leave a comment below or head over to our Facebook, X and Instagram pages. You may also message us via this page.

And if you liked this article, sign up for the monthly features newsletter. A handpicked selection of stories from Carthage Magazine, delivered to your inbox.