Facebook is doing its share to remove abusive content from the social network, it said on Sunday in an apparent rejection of Israeli allegations that it was uncooperative in stemming messages that “might spur Palestinian violence.”
Israel claims that Facebook has been used to perpetuate bloodshed and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightist government is drafting legislation to enable it to order social media sites to remove postings deemed threatening.
Ramping up the pressure, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Saturday accused Facebook of “sabotaging” Israeli police efforts by not cooperating with inquiries about potential suspects in the occupied West Bank and by “set(ting) a very high bar for removing inciteful content and posts.”
Facebook did not respond directly to Erdan’s criticism, but said in a statement that it conferred closely with Israel.
“We work regularly with safety organizations and policymakers around the world, including Israel, to ensure that people know how to make safe use of Facebook. There is no room for content that promotes violence, direct threats, terrorist or hate speeches on our platform,” the statement said.
It appeared to place an onus on Israeli authorities, as with any other users, to flag offensive content to Facebook monitors.
Erdan, who urged Israelis to “flood” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with demands for a policy change, expanded on the Netanyahu government’s complaint in remarks published on Sunday.
Of 74 “especially inciting and extremist posts” Israel had brought to Facebook’s attention, 24 were removed, Erdan told the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, adding that jurisdiction was an issue.
“The big problem is in Judea and Samaria, because Facebook does not recognize Israeli control there and is not prepared to turn over information,” Erdan said, using a biblical term for the West Bank, which Israel usurped in the 1967.

Source : Arab News