7amleh – Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media

In 2018, Israeli authorities arrested around 350 Palestinians on charges of “incitement” because of their online activities.

The most hate and racism in 2018 was directed at Palestinian members of the Israeli Knesset and their political parties in Israel during the discussions and passing of the Nation-State Law, which gives rights to only Jewish citizens.

Since its occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, Israel’s complete control of ICT infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza has impeded development and made Palestinians entirely dependent on the Israeli occupation authorities.

One of the main findings of the research is that gender-based violence in virtual space mirrors the violence in public space.

There’s been a dramatic upsurge in the number of laws being put forth by Israeli legislators that violate the right to privacy, freedom of expression and often exhibit racist and discriminatory features.

In a month that included a malware surveillance campaign in Lebanon, Telegram being blocked in Iran and crackdowns in Tunisia, the release of Hisham Al-Omeisy was a welcome bit of good news.

The Justice Ministry has proposed striking some repressive provisions in the 2017 law in response to concerns from civil society groups, but left in place others that would allow disproportionate and arbitrary restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, privacy, and protection of data.

Having a Facebook profile in Palestine means not only being targeted by Israel’s algorithm and censored by the platform itself, but also facing the threat of the Palestinian Authority’s new Electronic Crimes Law.