Algorithmic Censorship, Power, and Resistance in the Arab Region: A Case Study of the Pro-Palestine Content

Farag, Tamer; Primig, Florian und Badr, Hanan (2025): Algorithmic Censorship, Power, and Resistance in the Arab Region: A Case Study of the Pro-Palestine Content. 75th Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, Denver, Colorado, USA, 12.-16. Juni 2025.

Abstract

Since the start of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, social media platforms have tuned their content moderation algorithms to censor and limit the visibility of the content that supports Palestine. This biased algorithmic content moderation renews the attention around the political role of platforms in deciding which content can be visible and the power imbalances underpinning their algorithms. Against this backdrop, pro-Palestine activists and ordinary users have formulated an algorithmic imaginary and theories about the mechanism whereby the algorithms operate and, accordingly, developed an (algorithmic) repertoire of resistance to achieve visibility. Through conducting a digital ethnography and expert interviews, we zoom in on the algorithmic curation regimes and censorship of the Arabic pro-Palestine content on Facebook and the politics underpinning them. Thereafter, we analyze and categorize the various practices pro Palestine activists perform offline and online to resist these algorithmic biases. This paper develops a typology for algorithmic and non-algorithmic resistance. Findings contribute to literature about human interaction with social media algorithms in contested issues and the politics underpinning them in the Arab region, especially Palestine.

• Dokumententyp: Konferenzbeitrag (Vortrag)
• Keywords: Konferenz ICA 2025
• Fakultät: Sozialwissenschaften > Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Medienforschung (IfKW)
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 380 Handel, Kommunikation, Verkehr
• Sprache: Englisch