Israel Drafting Law to Remove Terror Incitement from Social Media

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. (Flash90)

Israeli lawmakers are drafting legislation that could force Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and other social media platforms to remove online postings that incite terrorism.

“There should be some measure of accountability for Internet companies regarding the illegal activities and content that is published through their services,” Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said this week at the 6th Annual International Cybersecurity Conference in Tel Aviv.

Shaked said that Internet companies and state governments need to find ways to cooperate so that malicious and criminal content can be quickly taken down. Israel could use a judicial injunction to have the content removed.

“The Justice Ministry is taking a leadership role in this—for example, we are promoting cooperation with content providers, sensitizing them as to content that violates Israeli law or providers’ term of service,” said Shaked.

The Justice Ministry, Shaked noted, last year set up a cyber crime and cyber terrorism department specifically to deal with child pornography and terrorism.

Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan, a co-sponsor of the bill, vowed to expedite the process that will enable the issuing of orders for the removal of inciting materials.

The recent wave of Palestinian terror has erupted as a result of malicious lies and incitement by the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Hamas terror organization and the Islamic movement, Israel says, and a glimpse at Palestinian social media reveals the extent and virulence of this lethal phenomenon.

On Facebook, one can find posts calling on social media users to join the violence against Israel.

Israel has arrested several Arab for inciting violence against Israel on social media.

Some 20,000 Israelis have joined a class-action lawsuit against Facebook, charging that the social media platform is ignoring posts that include Palestinian incitement and calls to murder Jews.

“While everyone understands the need to keep the web free, Facebook’s decision to allow this flood of terrorist incitement and calls to murder Jews to continue has crossed all red lines,” the Shurat Hadin Law Center, an Israel-based legal rights group, which is spearheading this venture, announced.

By: JNS.org and United with Israel Staff

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