Facebook Shuts Down Pro-Israel Page After Being a Target of Hate Speech
Social media giant Facebook closed a pro-Israel page after it allegedly became a target of hate speech, according to Fox News. The news outlet noted that the developer, identified as Mike Evans, was leading online prayers for Israel daily amid the ongoing war between their country and Palestine. It was not confirmed if the online prayer was held on the said page.
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Why Did Facebook Shut Down Pro-Israel Page?
New York Post confirmed that the pro-Israel page allegedly targeted by hate speech had about 77 million followers online. Evans also claimed that he could not post to his personal Facebook page as well.
"We removed Jerusalem Prayer Team's Facebook page for violating our rules against spam and inauthentic behavior," said a Facebook spokesperson to New York Post.
CBN reported that the Jerusalem Prayer Team appealed to the social media giant. However, Facebook allegedly replied and said that the case was complete. The social media giant also reportedly said to the team "to consider this decision final," and that they cannot review appeals due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Developer Claims Cyberterrorism
In an interview with CBN, Mike Evans alleged that "there was an organized attempt by radical Islamic organizations" in achieving the objective of taking down their page. Evans also noted in the interview that there were people "who posted over one million comments" then contacted the social media giant and allegedly claimed that they did not write such comments.
Evans alleged that the activists flooded the page with vile, anti-Semitic comments, including Hitler's photos and quotes, for them to complain that the page violated Facebook policies.
During his interview with CBN, Evans described the "organized attempt" as "a complete scam and fraud."
"It was a very clever, deceptive plan by Islamic radicals," Evans told CBN.
The attack Evans was talking about was done in two ways. CBN noted that the first one was a direct campaign in taking the pro-Israel page down, just like videos and posts that allegedly directed people on how to report the page. CBN furthered that the second attack was made through a disinformation campaign that Facebook created the page and forced people to like it.
The attack Evans claimed comes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas and other Islamic groups in the Gaza Strip.
"This is a prime example of bias on steroids," said Evans, adding that the termination of the page is an example of cyber terrorism that is based on racism.
Meanwhile, the pro-Israel page that Facebook has shut down due to hate speech remains hopeful that the reply of the social media giant is not the official verdict on their page.
WATCH: Facebook Under New Pressure To Remove False Information, Hate Speech - from Today
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