human rights watch

A new report from Human Rights Watch found that Meta’s policies have been “silencing voices” in support of Palestinians on Instagram and Facebook in a “wave of heightened censorship” amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The human rights-focused advocacy group documented more than 1,050 takedowns and suppression of content posted by Palestinians and supporters on Meta platforms between October and November, including 1,049 posts involving peaceful content in support of Palestinians and one in support of Israel.…

Simply viewing a photo of the Quran in the Xinjiang region of China is enough to be designated a dangerous extremist by government officials, according to a Human Right Watch report released Wednesday. Chinese police maintain a “master list” of around 50,000 video, audio, and photo files they claim contain violent and harmful content. Individuals found with copies of those files stored on their own devices were reportedly flagged and brought in for interrogation. That supposedly violent content? Quran readings and wedding…

Sixteen organisations including Amnesty International, Access Now and Human Rights Watch issued a joint statement against the latest amendments to the Information Technology (IT) Rules of 2022, under which the government proposes to set up a fact-checking unit for government news, saying it would “censor journalism and severely jeopardise freedom of expression”. “India’s new IT Rules amendment effectively empowers the government to be the judge and the jury on online content pertaining to itself. Fake, false and…

Human rights groups on Monday raised concerns about hate speech on Twitter and the power that its takeover by Elon Musk would give the billionaire after the self-described "free speech absolutist" clinched a deal to take the social media platform private.Musk, who is also chief executive of electric car maker Tesla, has described himself as a free speech absolutist who has been critical of Twitter's policies of moderating content on the platform. He has said Twitter needs to become a genuine forum for free speech. In a…