YouTube removes Hundreds of Videos Documenting Alleged Israeli Human Rights Violations, Sparking Censorship Concerns
WASHINGTON D.C. – YouTube has removed over 700 videos documenting alleged Israeli human rights violations in Palestine, raising alarms among human rights organizations who claim the platform is suppressing critical information and yielding to political pressure. The removals occurred amidst ongoing scrutiny of YouTube’s content moderation policies and accusations of bias in its handling of pro-Palestinian content.
The deletions,frist reported by The Intercept,targeted videos created by seven Palestinian human rights organizations – Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association,Al-Haq,B’Tselem,Defense for Children International – Palestine,Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network,Palestine Legal Aid Center,and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. These groups have faced increasing restrictions, including U.S. sanctions imposed by the Trump management,which critics argue were designed to stifle dissent and censor reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The U.S. government designated Samidoun as a “terrorist institution” in 2021. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has also been the target of a pro-Israeli online smear campaign attempting to link it to militant groups.
The sanctions freeze the organizations’ assets in the U.S. and bar sanctioned individuals from traveling to the country. Federal judges have issued preliminary injunctions in two cases, with plaintiffs arguing the sanctions violated their First Amendment rights.
“The Trump administration is focused on contributing to the censorship of information about Israeli atrocities in Palestine and the sanctions against these organizations is very deliberately designed to make association with these organizations frightening to Americans who will be concerned about material support laws,” said Sarah Whitson, of DAWN, which joined a coalition of groups in September to demand the Trump administration drop its sanctions.
YouTube’s actions extend beyond simply enforcing U.S. sanctions. The platform has been accused of unevenly applying its community guidelines, censoring Palestinian voices while showing less scrutiny towards pro-Israeli content, even before Israel’s recent campaign in Gaza. A Wired report detailed these continuing trends during the war.
Earlier this year, YouTube shut down the official account of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association following pressure from UK Lawyers for Israel, who pointed to the organization’s sanctioning by the State Department.
The platform has also demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with both the Trump administration and Israel, coordinating with a campaign organized by Israeli tech workers to remove social media content deemed critical of Israel. google, YouTube’s parent company, secretly handed over personal Gmail account information to U.S. Immigration and customs Enforcement in an effort to detain a pro-Palestinian student organizer.
Whitson warned that YouTube’s actions could set a hazardous precedent. “They are basically allowing the Trump administration to dictate what information they share with the global audience,” she said. “It’s not going to end with Palestine.”
