The international human rights group, ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies, today accused Facebook of blocking accounts of Palestinian and other activists, which it said violates the right for freedom of opinion.
Facebook is blocking millions of accounts in the Middle East and North Africa region, warned ImpACT, calling it an early sign of failure of the company’s newly appointed oversight board.
The London-based think tank has documented many complaints of account blocking or arbitrary restrictions from activists, bloggers and journalists in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying these actions are a violation of the right to freedom of opinion.
“The Facebook oversight board should assess the company’s policies in the Middle East, particularly whether the geographic location of its offices impacts human rights-related practices,” it said.
“Mass blocking of Facebook silences voices and restricts freedom of expression,” it said, and called on Facebook management “to stop blocking bloggers’, journalists’ and activists’ accounts, protect the right to opinion and expression guaranteed in international conventions and treaties, and adhere to a code of conduct that prohibits suppression of dissenting voices.”
