Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Contact
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
    • Submit Press Release
  • 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
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Arab Radio Podcast intro
    • Radio Baladi Detroit
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Toggle search form
  • UN Special Committee on Israeli practices in occupied territories warns of a second Nakba  Arab World
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month Activism
  • 04-28-25 Pappas Arab Heritage Month
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas recognizes Arab American Heritage Month by honoring business and community leaders American Arabs
  • Stuffed Grape Leaves. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    A recipe on how to make Stuffed Grape Leaves with lamb, ox tail and rice American Arabs
  • Andrew Boutros, interim US Attorney Northern District of Illinois. Photo courtesy of the US Attorney's Office
    Andrew S. Boutros Takes Oath of Office as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois American Arabs
  • Israeli massacres of Palestinian civilians March 18 2025
    Palestinians demand investigation of Israeli war crimes in Gaza Strip Arab World
  • Illinois Muslim Action Day April 9 2025
    Illinois Muslim Action Day Policies at April 9 Statehouse News Conference American Arabs
  • Investigation demanded in March 23 massacre of 15 first responders by Israel's military in Rafah
    Investigation demanded into Israel slaughter of First Responder in Rafah on March 23, 2025 Arab World
  • More than a dozen candidates running for various local offices in the Chicagoland suburbs attended an Ifatr dinner Thursday, March 13, 2025 hosted by the Arab American Chamber of Commerce at the Jerusalem Banquet Hall in Bridgeview.
    Candidates promise fairness and engagement at Arab Chamber Iftar event March 13 Activism
  • Orland Fire Protection District, Fiscal Voices, receive endorsement of the Arab American Democracy Coaliton
    Independent candidates for Orland Fire receive Arab and Muslim American endorsement Activism
  • Partial Image from a video produced by the PASC called "Citizens Against Insider Politics". The video slandered Arabs and Muslims in Orland Park as being supporters of terrorism. The PAC receivced a major donation fromt he founder of Pete's Fresh Market which operate stores in two heavily populated Arab and Muslim communities, Bridgeview and Orland Park.
    CAIR-Chicago Denounces Growing Islamophobia in Southwest Suburbs, Calls for Hate Crime Investigation Activism
  • The Arab American Chamber of Commerce of Chicagoland and the Palestine Club are hosting a "Candidate's Iftar" on Thursday, March 13 beginning at 5:30 PM at Jerusalem Banquets, 8314 S. Harlem Avenue.
    Arab Chamber and Palestine Club host Candidate Iftar March 13 in Bridgeview Activism
  • Television set and remote. Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
    MBC GROUP unveils MBCNOW, its brand-new groundbreaking entertainment service aggregator American Arabs
  • Mike Ghouse
    Celebration of 500th Interfaith Marriage Ceremony American Arabs
  • Orland Park activist Yousif Zegar addresses the Orland Park Village Board meeting on Feb. 5, 2024.
    All United launches to empower local community and drive political change American Arabs
Adalah Logo

Israel State Attorney says social media censorship by government is illegal

Posted on November 28, 2019 By rayhanania No Comments on Israel State Attorney says social media censorship by government is illegal
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Israel State Attorney says social media censorship by government is illegal

Israel State Attorney claims censorship of social media content, following Cyber Unit requests, isn’t an ‘exercise of gov’t authority.’ Adalah & ACRI petition Supreme Court arguing that the Internet Referral Unit cannot submit “voluntary” requests in order to bypass the law.

Following two years of complaints by Adalah that the Israeli Cyber Unit – an internet referral unit operating by the Israeli prosecution since 2015 – was unlawfully issuing requests to social media providers to censor content on their websites, the State Attorney’s office responded on 21 November 2019 that these requests “do not constitute an exercise of governmental authority.” According to the office, the unit only makes “voluntary” requests to censor content while the decisions are ultimately made by the social media providers.

The mechanism for issuing these requests, referred to by the State Attorney’s office as “Alternative Enforcement on a Voluntary Track” (henceforth “Alternative Enforcement”), includes appeals to content intermediaries like Facebook and Google to remove, restrict or suspend access to certain content, pages or users. These requests are based on an alleged violation of domestic laws as well as the intermediaries’ own Terms of Service (ToS).

This form of censorship is conducted without any legal procedure and without granting targeted users the right to be heard in the decision, and is sometimes implemented without the users’ knowledge. Adalah and ACRI argued that the prosecution’s cyber unit cannot submit “voluntary” requests to bypass constitutional and administrative norms, including transparency and due process.

Adalah Logo

CLICK HERE  to read the latest Adalah letter to the State Attorney, 21 November 2019 (in Hebrew) CLICK HERE to read the State Attorney’s response, 21 November 2019 (in Hebrew) 

In light of the State Attorney’s response, Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) filed a petition on 26 November 2019 to the Israeli Supreme Court demanding that it order the Cyber Unit to end its practices. Adalah Attorneys Fady Khoury and Rabea Eghbariah argued in the petition that the “Alternative Enforcement” mechanism violates the constitutional rights to freedom of expression and due process, that it lacks legal authority, and that it cannot stand constitutional scrutiny under Israel’s Basic Laws.

CLICK HERE to read  Adalah and ACRI’s petition (in Hebrew) A meteoric rise in requests to remove content                                      

The petition emphasized that there has been a vast increase in the use of the Alternative Enforcement mechanism since the Cyber Unit was established in 2015. According to a 2018 report by the State Attorney’s office, the number of requests made by the unit to remove content leaped from 2,241 in 2016, to 12,351 in 2017, to 14,283 in 2018 – an increase of over 600%. This number does not reflect the actual number of targeted content, as each appeal, most of which were addressed to Facebook (87%), may include tens or even hundreds of targeted posts.

The overwhelming majority of requests for content removal were accepted by the social media providers. In the past two years, according to the State Attorney’s report, about 90% of the targeted content were completely or partially removed, most of them on grounds of “identifying with a terrorist organization” (73%) or “incitement offenses” (26%). Only a fraction of the requests (1%) involved incitement to racism, privacy violations, the Video Act (relating to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law), copyright infringement, advertising prostitution services, and others.

 Censorship in the dark 

Aside from the data in the State Attorney’s report, there is no other available information on the nature of the content requested for removal by the Cyber Unit. The State Attorney’s office rejected Adalah’s appeals to disclose the content that was removed at the Cyber Unit’s request, and it is apparent from the replies that the office does not keep a record of this content.

Similarly, following a Freedom of Information request submitted by a number of organizations including ACRI, the Israeli Ministry of Justice refused to disclose the content that was removed, claiming that “exposing the content of posts related to incitement to violence and terrorism may harm various security interests.”

Therefore, removing content through the “Alternative Enforcement” mechanism is carried out with no transparency or legal procedure whatsoever, and with no framework for users to defend themselves against allegations that their posts were illegal or warranted removal.

In light of these facts, Adalah and ACRI asked the Supreme Court to issue an interim order requiring the State Attorney’s office to justify the Cyber Unit’s practice (order nisi), and after hearing its position, to issue an order prohibiting the practice.

 Adalah Attorney Rabea Eghbariah commented:

“The mere idea that the state is operating a unit which examines and flags content for ‘voluntary’ removal according to the companies’ own Terms of Service is absurd. The Ministry of Justice is suddenly transformed into the “Ministry of Truth,” constitutional norms replaced with “Terms of Service “, and the courts with corporate clerks. All this is practiced without any legal authority or legal processes whatsoever, in the total absence of transparency, and while exploiting the state’s bargaining power as a potential regulator of these companies. This policy contravenes the principles of the rule of law in an unprecedented manner under the guise of “combating incitement and terrorism,” and violates freedom of political expression. Moreover, there is a reason to suspect that the victims of these violations are first and foremost Palestinian.”.

Case Citation: HCJ 7846/19 Adalah The Legal Center for Arab Minority Riights in Israel v. The State Attorney – Cyber Unit Related Press Releases:Social media giants continue to collaborate with Israel’s illegal ‘Cyber Unit’, 19 December 2018Israel’s Cyber Unit operating illegally to censor social media content, 14 September 2017

newswire info
  • About
  • Latest Posts
rayhanania
rayhanania
Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.

Follow RayHanania at Twitter
rayhanania
Latest posts by rayhanania (see all)
  • Israelisnipers shooting and killing hospital workers in Gaza - December 11, 2023
  • CAIR Condemns Israeli Executions of Wounded, Unarmed Palestinian in West Bank   - December 11, 2023
  • Arab and Muslim American voters face a “simple choice” between Biden’s inhumanity and Trump’s edgy politics - December 9, 2023

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
Civil Rights, Israel, News, Palestine & Jordan, Social Media Tags:Adalah, censorship, Facebook, Israel, Israeli Cyber Unit, Palestine, SOcial Media, Twitter

Post navigation

Previous Post: 128 detainees repatriated back to Yemen from Saudi Arabia
Next Post: Book Release: Kettani publishes book about World Muslim Population

Related Posts

  • Mohamed Fadel Fahmy is an Egyptian-Canadian award-winning journalist and author
    Investigative Journal launches talk-show anchored from Times Square New York American Arabs
  • Signed by USS LIBERTY Vets at 50th Reunion in Norfolk, VA. June 2017
    American Legion Resolution 40 for USS LIBERTY and the 115th Congress Arab World
  • OMAR SIDDIQUI, 2018 U.S. Congressional Candidate (CA 48th District); The Problem Solver: Trial Lawyer, Engineer, Scientist, CIA Partner, & FBI Advisor Omar Siddiqui is Who Individuals, Businesses, & Even the Federal Government Turn to for Solutions to Complex Problems. (PRNewsfoto/Omar In The House Committee)
    Muslim American enters California’s 48th Congressional district race Activism
  • Annual Taybeh Fest kicks off this weekend Arab World
  • From Joan Rivers to Vanunu and Iran by way of WMD Arab World
  • Data on anti-Muslim racism being distorted for politics American Arabs

More Related Articles

Joseph Smith Founder of Mormon Church had 40 wives, Church admits Ali Younes
MLK Day in the Era of Trump Arab World
Jewish settler terrorists murder 18 month old Palestinian child Arab World
Orland Prayer Center Sheikh Kifah Mustapha (left) meets with American Arab Chamber of Commerce President Hassan Nijem (center) and Cook COunty Treasurer Maria Pappas (right) to discuss the Treasurer's new tax refund program. Photo courtesy HassanNijem More than $200,000 in overpaid taxes refunded to Arab Americans under Treasurer’s program Activism
Gas station image gasoline pump. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania Arab gas station owners targeted in futile Lightfoot stunt to stop street gang violence Activism
Stars of Science pits three finalists on MBC4 Arab World

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Ray Hanania's 4 times a week columns at https://RayHanania.com at Substack

Enter Your Email to Subscribe to Ray Hanania’s Columns

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Photo courtesy of Journalist Abdennour Toumi
    France: Political Compromise vs Political Instability
    August 28, 2024
  • Zakia Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia
    Arabs eat Middle East food like they are making love
    June 27, 2024
  • Zwar lamb kabob and kufta with white and yellow rice
    Zwar ranked the Best Middle East restaurant in Chicagoland suburbs
    June 8, 2024
  • Pictured: Rahm Emanuel, Afghan activist Salman Aftab who was co-chair of the Iftar dinner, and several non-Arab Muslim leaders. Also pictured is Ald. Joe Moore. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania for Arab News
    Comprehensive look at the failings of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
    January 18, 2024
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month
    April 29, 2025
  • 04-28-25 Pappas Arab Heritage Month
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas recognizes Arab American Heritage Month by honoring business and community leaders
    April 27, 2025
  • Mike Ghouse
    Celebration of 500th Interfaith Marriage Ceremony
    February 14, 2025
  • Arab American Democracy Coalition logo 2025
    AADC to host annual candidates’ Forum & Brunch Sunday at Nikos in Bridgeview
    February 11, 2025

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.

  • NEWS
  • UN Special Committee on Israeli practices in occupied territories warns of a second Nakba 
    May 9, 2025
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month
    April 29, 2025
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Faisal Abbas Book Anecdotes
    Book Review: Arab author shares his anecdotes living in the United Kingdom
    October 22, 2024
  • Columnist Ray Hanania at the ADC Convention in Dearborn with the author Susan Abulhawa
    Book Review: Mornings in Jenin bySusan Abulhawa
    September 14, 2024
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Television set and remote. Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
    MBC GROUP unveils MBCNOW, its brand-new groundbreaking entertainment service aggregator
    February 24, 2025
  • ArabCon 2024 Gala Program features Dr. Cornel West, Macklemore, and more
    September 6, 2024
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at
Twitter
Facebook
TitkTok
BlueSky
RayHanania Columns

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

Copyright © 2025 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme