Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
  • Features
  • Comment
  • Store
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Podcast Info
    • Hanania Podcast intro
    • Live Arab Radio
  • Your Views
  • Submit Press Release
  • Toggle search form
  • J.B. Pritzker from his election campaign Facebook Page at UFCW union endorsement.
    Pritzker interview with Arab American newspapers American Arabs
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    AHRC “Spirit of Humanity” Awards & Dinner Gala, New Date:  Friday, October 21, 2022  Activism
  • rab American Democratic Club hosts a gathering of elected officials and journalists looking at the recent elections, celebrating Ramadan and Arab American Heritage month (April.)
    Arab American Heritage Month, Ramadan feted by Journalists and elected officials American Arabs
  • Chicago Mayoral candidate Dr. Willie Wilson promised to ensure that Arabs and Muslims will be included in his administration during a visit he made to celebrate the Eid Al Adha with Chicagoland's Muslim community.
    Chicago Mayoral candidate Dr. Willie Wilson promises to support Arabs and Muslims Activism
  • Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Pritzker makes more appointments, none are Arab American American Arabs
  • The American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (American FRRME) helping Christians in Iraq
    New report on Christians in Iraq shows desperate situation and needs Arab World
  • Winter in Bekaa Lebanon January 2015 Photo courtesy of NRC Lebanon. January 7, 2015 in Bekaa valley Lebanon. Heavy snowfall in Lebanon January 7, 2015. Yesterday staff from NRC Lebanon’s Bekaa office were working with refugees to put in place flood mitigation measures in advance of the forecast harsh storm which hit overnight. Field teams distributed 1,205 plywood sheets and 885 bricks as floor-raising kits for tents in two settlements in the town of Sarain, and 250 wooden pallets to ensure a clear pathway in five settlements in the town at risk of flooding. Niamh Murnaghan, NRC’s Country Director in Lebanon said, “This morning residents of these informal settlements awoke to a knee-deep blanket of snow. With roads impassable in Bekaa, our staff have not been able to reach refugee settlements, but refugees have sent photos of themselves clearing the snow from their tents.” Photo credit: NRC Lebanon/Syrian refugees in Lebanon. January 7, 2015 in Bekaa valley Lebanon. Heavy snowfall in Lebanon January 7, 2015. Yesterday staff from NRC Lebanon’s Bekaa office were working with refugees to put in place flood mitigation measures in advance of the forecast harsh storm which hit overnight. Field teams distributed 1,205 plywood sheets and 885 bricks as floor-raising kits for tents in two settlements in the town of Sarain, and 250 wooden pallets to ensure a clear pathway in five settlements in the town at risk of flooding. Niamh Murnaghan, NRC’s Country Director in Lebanon said, “This morning residents of these informal settlements awoke to a knee-deep blanket of snow. With roads impassable in Bekaa, our staff have not been able to reach refugee settlements, but refugees have sent photos of themselves clearing the snow from their tents.” Photo credit: NRC Lebanon/Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
    AHRC Observes World Refugee Day American Arabs
  • Endorsements: Democrats in the Illinois June 28, 2022 Primary election Activism
  • The Arab Daily News candidate endorsements: Cook County, Illinois American Arabs
  • Endorsements: Republicans in the Illinois Republican Primary Election June 28, 2022 Election
  • Joseph Gutman was appointed by Gov. Pritzker to serve as a Member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Gutman was a Partner at BDT & Company from 2017 until retiring in January 2020 where he remains a consultant today.
    Gov Pritzker makes more appointments to state commissions, boards but no Arabs American Arabs
  • World Jewish Congress Chairman Ronald S. Lauder
    WJC President Ronald S. Lauder Receives France’s Top Distinction  Activism
  • Project DYNAMO rescues more than 600 people from Mariupol, Ukraine over the last week Major Mariupol rescue operation conducted by Project DYNAMO, more than 480 people from Mariupol as city under violent siege falling to Russian forces. 
    Project DYNAMO rescues more than 600 people from Mariupol, Ukraine over the last week Human Rights
  • US Congressman Sean Casten, 6th District, Illinois
    Congressman Sean Casten joins Ray Hanania Radio Show American Arabs
  • The U.S.S. Liberty photo courtesy of the USS Liberty Veterans.
    Survivors of Israel’s strike on USS Liberty commemorate 55th year June 6 – 8 American Arabs
A protester holding a placard in Tahrir Square referring to Facebook and Twitter, acknowledging the role played by social media during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Same practices are now being applied in Israel to target Palestinian activists and use postings as evidence in legal persecutions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Israel’s ‘Cyber Unit’ illegally censors social media posts

Posted on September 14, 2017April 13, 2019 By rayhanania No Comments on Israel’s ‘Cyber Unit’ illegally censors social media posts
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Israel’s ‘Cyber Unit’ illegally censors social media posts

The ‘Cyber Unit’, part of the Israeli State Attorney’s Office, collaborates with social media platforms – including U.S.-based giants Facebook and Twitter – to censor users’ posts, but has no legal authority to do so.

Israel’s state attorney’s office is running a “Cyber Unit” which, in collaboration with major social media outlets, is illegally censoring user content.

[CLICK HERE to read this press release on Adalah’s website]

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel sent a letter on 2 August 2017 to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, State Attorney Shai Nitzan, and Cyber Unit director Haim Vismonsky demanding that they immediately cease the illegal operations of the state attorney’s Cyber Unit.

The unit began operation during the second half of 2015 and is responsible for “dealing with cyberspace enforcement challenges” via censorship of social media posts. This censorship – conducted in collaboration and coordination with social media outlets, including U.S.-based giants Facebook and Twitter – entails the removal of content added by users, restriction of access to certain websites, and outright blocking of users’ access to these sites.

Adalah Attorney Fady Khoury wrote in the letter that much of the unit’s censorship operations are conducted without any basis in Israeli law:

English: A protester holding a placard in Tahr...
A protester holding a placard in Tahrir Square referring to Facebook and Twitter, acknowledging the role played by social media during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Same practices are now being applied in Israel to target Palestinian activists and use postings as evidence in legal persecutions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Nothing in the law allows state authorities to censor content based solely on an administrative determination… that the content amounts to a criminal offense. Likewise, there is no explicit directive in [Israeli] law authorizing the removal of content determined to amount to a criminal offense, even by a court.”

According to the Cyber Unit’s own end-of-year 2016 report, it handled 2,241 cases of online content that were ostensibly posted in violation of the law; 1,554 of these were removed as a result of the unit’s operations.

While private bodies such as social media corporations are not subject to Israeli public law and therefore may lawfully choose to remove content in accordance with their terms of service, state agents – such as the Cyber Unit – are indeed subject to Israeli law and much of their censorship activities are therefore illegal.

According to Attorney Khoury, Cyber Unit operations are a clear violation of free speech:

“In this context, a determination by the State’s Attorney’s Office, through the Cyber Unit, that a certain expression posted on social media websites amounts to a criminal offence is tantamount to an unproven suspicion. The Cyber Unit cannot impose sanctions based solely on this suspicion, let alone severe sanctions in the form of censorship. The authorities are not allowed to demand the removal of speech that has not yet been proven to be criminal, even if it is unpleasant to their ears. All speech should enjoy a ‘presumption of legality’ (akin to the presumption of innocence) until a court of law declares it illegal… When the Cyber Unit appeals to a service provider with a request to censor content based on its suspicion that the concerned content is expression forbidden by law and without a final [judicial] ruling in the matter, this constitutes an unconstitutional violation of freedom of speech.”

Adalah also noted that Cyber Unit operations are a violation of the principle of separation of powers:

“The pretense of deciding upon the criminalization of expression, without appealing to the court or conducting any legal proceeding – and upon this basis determine censorship sanctions – impinges upon and supplants judicial authority and leads to the infringement of the principle of separation of powers. Cyber Unit clerks and administrative officials decide for themselves, within the framework of an alternative enforcement system, if a certain instance of expression ‘is incitement to violence and terror, and support of a terror organization’ or is a ‘forbidden publication towards public servants in the framework of their jobs…’ The obvious conclusion is that the state attorney is usurping judicial authority –reserved for the judicial branch – illegally and without any legal authorization.”

Adalah demands that the Israeli attorney general, state attorney, and Cyber Unit halt all internet content censorship activities using the “alternative enforcement system” operated by the state attorney’s Cyber Unit.

Twitter, Facebook regularly remove content at request of governments

According to Twitter and Facebook transparency reports, available on their websites, the respective sites remove a significant amount of content at the request of governments around the world. The reports note that the companies fulfill government requests upon finding that the post violates either their Community Standards or the requesting government’s laws, although the former does not count in the total numbers reported by Facebook.[1] For Twitter, the total number of requests made by governments is included below. For the July-December 2016 period, the sites granted requests for the following countries (among others):

  • Twitter:[2] Australia: 4/15 requests were granted; Canada: 11/38; France: 1334/2431; Germany: 236/371; Israel: 12/13; Italy: 6/13; Norway: 1/2; Sweden: 0/2; UK: 65/307; US: 100/381
  • Facebook:[3] Australia: 2 requests were granted; Canada: 0; France: 683; Germany: 919; Israel: 661; Italy: 11; Norway: 0; Sweden: 0; UK: 177; US: 0

In the United States, there have been high profile instances of government requests to censor specific online content.

One successful attempt was in the case of recordings posted by Korryn Gaines, a woman who was shot dead by Baltimore County police officers. The killing was the culmination of an hours-long standoff between her and police, during which time Gaines had live posted a recording on Facebook. She also posted to her Instagram account a video of an earlier interaction with police. Following her killing, both of these accounts were taken offline following a request from police. While the accounts were eventually reinstated, two of the videos Gaines posted continued to be restricted for violating Facebook community standards.[4]

Not the first time

This is not the first time Adalah has revealed Israeli state agents operating without any domestic legal authority.

In August 2016, Adalah sent a letter to Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and Israel Airports Authority Director General Yaakov Ganot calling on them to halt the overtly illegal practices of strip searching and forcing security escorts on Arab passengers in Israel’s airport. There is no Israeli law authorizing state representatives to carry out these practices.

In the context of pre-boarding security checks, Adalah wrote: “The Flight Law (Security in Civil Aviation) 1977, which deals with the security of flights and passengers and includes a list of authorized acts that may be employed in order to fulfill the purpose of the law, does not authorize Israeli airline security personnel to ask passengers to strip naked and to conduct searches or to escort them to the boarding gates.”

CLICK HERE to read Adalah’s letter about the Cyber Unit’s illegal operations [Hebrew]

CLICK HERE to read the Cyber Unit’s 2016 annual report [Hebrew]

RELATED PRESS RELEASES:

  • Adalah fears Facebook’s online incitement deal with Israel will selectively target Palestinian citizens
  • Adalah: Strip searches, escorts to gates of Arab passengers by Israeli airport security personnel are illegal

[1] Twitter Transparency Report Removal Requests; Facebook Government Requests Report FAQ.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Facebook Government Requests Report.

[4] Baynard Woods, Facebook deactivated Korryn Gaines’ account during standoff,police say, The Guardian, 3 August, 2016.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
rayhanania
rayhanania
Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
RAY HANANIA — Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster

Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.

Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.

Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.

Click here to send Ray Hanania email.

Follow RayHanania on Gettr.com, the uncensored Twitter Ray Hanania on Gettr, the new Twitter
rayhanania
Latest posts by rayhanania (see all)
  • Weaponizing Anti-Semitism as a tool to protect Israel’s war crimes - July 27, 2022
  • Time to ditch the spoils system, our elected officials need to be more inclusive - July 26, 2022
  • AHRC “Spirit of Humanity” Awards & Dinner Gala, New Date:  Friday, October 21, 2022  - July 21, 2022

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
Arab World, Editors Picks, Israel, Middle East, News, Palestine & Jordan, racism, Social Media, Technology Tags:bigotry, censorship, cyber stalking, discrimination, illegal monitoring, Israel, Israelis, Palestine, Palestinians, targeting of Arabs

Post navigation

Previous Post: Taybeh kicks off OktoberFest this weekend
Next Post: How “The Vietnam War” by Ken Burns and We Americans and the USS LIBERTY can unite Americans

Related Posts

  • Mansaf (mensiff) -- lamb, rice, toasted Syrian pita bread and jameed sauce -- popular as a holiday dish and the national dish of Jordan. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Mansaf, one of the most important Arab recipes Arab World
  • Palestinian killed by Israelis at Gaza border Arab World
  • Border(less): refugees face challenges Arab World
  • Chicago Cubs Convention 2017, autographed baseballs. Photo courtesy Ray Hanania. Permission granted to republish with full attribution
    Has success spoiled the Chicago Cubs? Features
  • Daniel Ramirez from Honolulu, USA - Container Ship Zim Virginia Uploaded by Jacopo Werther. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. CC 2.0
    Zim San Diego Delays Docking For Seven Days In Attempt To Wait Out Palestinian Activists Calling For BDS Civil Rights
  • Despite End of World fear mongering, Embassy move not likely American Arabs

More Related Articles

Women in Berqas protesting about ISO at a recent rally in France. Photo courtesy of Abdennour Toumi What’s the Matter with France? Abdennour Toumi
Illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel, a hotbed of fanaticism and hate. The land was taken from Christians and Muslims who owned land and homes and was used to build homes and farms for Jews only in the Israeli occupied territories. Photo courtesy of Maan News Obama gives Civil Rights in Israel a hard push Arab World
CPJ: Record 259 journalists jailed around the world American Arabs
USS Liberty Veterans: Christmas Email and New Year Letter American Arabs
FBI Badge & gun. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Court reinstates lawsuit from Muslims coerced by FBI to spy American Arabs
La Grande-Poste Garden Vendor Books Something for everyone at La Grande-Poste Garden Vendor Books Abdennour Toumi

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Israeli soldiers and settlers attack Palestinians in Khirbet al-Mufaqarah, on Sept. 28, 2021 captured by B'Tselem video. The attacks were intentionally distorted by Israeli TV to blame the Palestinians
    Weaponizing Anti-Semitism as a tool to protect Israel’s war crimes
    July 27, 2022
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    Time to ditch the spoils system, our elected officials need to be more inclusive
    July 26, 2022
  • Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Nearly four years in office, Pritzker fails to deliver on promises to Arab Americans
    June 12, 2022
  • Palestinian refugees forced to flee their homes at gunpoint by Jewish terrorist groups operating in Palestine in the 1930s, 1940s and after Israel was created on May 14, 1948. Photo courtesy of the United Nations
    Unresolved status of Palestinian rights makes UNRWA essential
    May 7, 2022
  • NEWS
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    AHRC “Spirit of Humanity” Awards & Dinner Gala, New Date:  Friday, October 21, 2022 
    July 21, 2022
  • Chicago Mayoral candidate Dr. Willie Wilson promised to ensure that Arabs and Muslims will be included in his administration during a visit he made to celebrate the Eid Al Adha with Chicagoland's Muslim community.
    Chicago Mayoral candidate Dr. Willie Wilson promises to support Arabs and Muslims
    July 16, 2022
  • Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Pritzker makes more appointments, none are Arab American
    July 11, 2022
  • The American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (American FRRME) helping Christians in Iraq
    New report on Christians in Iraq shows desperate situation and needs
    June 20, 2022
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Imad Hamad Director American Human Rights Council
    AHRC Calls for Moral Consistency on Human Rights, Urges President Biden to Pause His Trip to Israel:
    May 24, 2022
  • The U.S.S. Liberty photo courtesy of the USS Liberty Veterans.
    Survivors of Israel’s strike on USS Liberty commemorate 55th year June 6 – 8
    May 23, 2022
  • AHRC Logo new Feb 2021
    AHRC hosts an open meeting with TSA & community
    May 19, 2022
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Chicago aldermen to host forum on Arab businesses closed by Mayor Lightfoot
    April 15, 2022

The Tabboun Column

The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
  • Tabboun
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    The Political Grapevine/The Tabboun, Friday Dec. 16, 2021
    December 16, 2021
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    Tabboun: Chicago remains strongest Palestine voice
    September 7, 2016
  • The Tabboun: Israeli human rights violations hit
    June 30, 2016
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    Tabboun: Himes questions troop deployment to Syria
    November 3, 2015
  • The Political Grapevine Political Tabboun. Original photo by tim-mossholder-KX1BBNY69Ao-unsplash
    The Tabboun: Dearborn removes statue of racist former mayor
    September 29, 2015

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Sices-Ad.jpg
  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Ad-Pantry-essentials.jpg
  • ZiyadBrandLogo-2016BlackRedBackgrnd.jpg
  • HANANIA Arab News Op-Eds
  • Ukraine conflict gives Palestinians chance to redefine their conflict
    March 9, 2022
  • Mishmeshan PHC medical center destroyed in Syrian Government assaults. Photo courtesy of UOSSM Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations
    President Biden’s dyslexic policy in Syria is a mess
    October 20, 2021
  • Annissa Essaibi George and family
    Annissa Essaibi George faces “race hypocrisy” in campaign to be Boston Mayor
    October 20, 2021
  • Jerusalem image of Jews and Arabs walking together. Shutterstock. Courtesy of Arab News Newspaper
    Jewish Michigan lawmaker leads push for Two State Solution
    October 7, 2021
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib, book cover. Photo courtesy of Cune Press
    Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib
    November 1, 2021
  • Girl Fighters, new book on Yemen Book Cune Press
    New Book: Girl Fighters: Break Tradition in Yemen 
    October 25, 2021
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • The Ray Hanania Radio Show Live Wed 5 PM EST in Detroit, Washington DC, Ontario and on Thursday in Chicago. Watch the program live at Facebook.com/ArabNews
    Second Season of “The Ray Hanania Show” Arab American radio launches April 6
    April 4, 2022
  • American Arab CHamber President HassanNijem accepts the Proclamation from Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer at the Chamber dinner March 30, 2022
    Chicagoland celebrates Arab American Heritage Month
    March 31, 2022
  • Hollywood Sign
    Will Smith violence takes Oscar protests to dangerous level
    March 31, 2022
  • 03-30-22 Arab Chamber Heritage Month Flyer
    Arab Chamber to host Arab Heritage Month dinner March 30
    March 14, 2022
  • “Rupture”, the psychological thriller produced by MBC STUDIOS, has won Best Saudi Film at the 2021 Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF).
    MBC GROUP’s Rupture wins Best Saudi Film at the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival
    December 15, 2021
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at Gab.com, MeWe.com and IDobbinate.com, the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter Censorship.

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2022 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme