Meta has been paying Israeli extremists

Most people you know will use Meta applications. But do they know the corporate giant is also paying Israeli extremists amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza and illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank?

Meta incentivising hate, violence, and illegality

Digital rights group 7amleh has released a new report showing Meta isn’t just failing to remove or limit “violent, racist, and inciting content against Palestinians” but is:

financially enabling it through monetization programs

7amleh doesn’t see this as:

a technical flaw or procedural gap, but rather a practice that incentivizes harmful content, normalizes violations, and amplifies their impact

Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. But it’s Facebook that’s the focus of the report, which documents:

dozens of Israeli extreme right wing and settlement related Facebook pages that are actively monetized by Meta

Such pages, it clarifies:

promote or legitimize military operations and violence against a protected civilian population

And Meta’s monetisation, which has apparently “failed to assess or mitigate the human rights risks associated”:

functions as a mechanism that rewards and supports the settlement expansion movement

As a result, the corporation:

risks contributing to internationally wrongful acts

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal. There is also an overwhelming consensus among experts that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. And although the ICJ will take time to make an official ruling, it accepted in 2024 that this was plausible and called for action.

Breaking its own rules

Meta very clearly took sides early on in the genocide (as did other major global corporations). And as 7amleh’s report explains:

Hebrew content that includes incitement, dehumanization, and explicit calls for violence has been allowed to circulate widely, with limited enforcement

Palestinian content creators, on the other hand, have been:

structurally barred from accessing monetization tools solely because they are based in Palestine

Meta, a report summary says, has essentially created:

a dual system: on one hand, Palestinian digital and economic participation is suppressed; on the other, pages that promote settlement activity, violence, and incitement against Palestinians are financially rewarded.

The company has monetised:

Israeli right-wing pages and accounts, including those linked to the settlement movement, far-right public figures, and media outlets known for incitement.

But it also seems to have gone against its own rules, as the report:

documents cases involving entities that should be ineligible for monetization under Meta’s own policies, such as government bodies.

7amleh wants Meta to stop excluding Palestinians from monetisation, end the monetisation of pages and accounts inciting hatred and violence, and enforce its policies fairly. It also calls for independent audits and a fair appeals process.

Featured image via the Canary