Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan is promoting new legislation that would order Facebook to remove posts Israel found as inciting to violence. Whether the bill can be enforced is up for question.
Nine months ago, Dareen Tatour posted a poem to Facebook entitle \’Resist my people, resist them,\’ which included clauses appearing to incite to violence such as: \’Follow the caravan of martyrs,\’ \’I will not succumb to the “peaceful solution,”\’ \’Never lower my flags until I evict them from my land. Pay no mind to his agents among us who chain us with the peaceful illusion.\’
Days later, Israeli police arrested Tatour, accusing her of inciting violence on the social network.
Blaming incitement for the latest 10-month spate of Palestinian attacks, Israel is taking its fight to a new level: A new law in the works, co-sponsored by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, aims to force Facebook and other social media platforms to take down content Israel deems as fueling violence. Some critics warn it goes too far, limiting free expression.
Tatour, an Arab citizen of Israel, is one of several hundred people detained in recent years for allegedly spreading incitement.
Hoping to further clamp down on what it sees as the driving force behind a 10-month spate of Palestinian attacks, Israel is now preparing a law that aims to rein in content on social media, including Facebook, a platform it says plays a central role in inspiring attackers.
"Where is the democracy here? There is no democracy. Voicing your opinion is the only medium for an individual in a democracy," Tatour, 34, said by phone from the apartment outside Tel Aviv where she was confined to house arrest after spending three months in jail.