Instagram's Algorithmic Bias: Silencing Pro-Palestinian Voices
Pro-Palestinian creators are using "algospeak," a combination of special spellings, code words, and phrases, to evade social media algorithms and prevent their posts from being removed or suppressed. By changing captions, using emojis, bleeping voice-overs, and altering spellings of words like "Palestine" and "Hamas," these creators aim to share their perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which they believe differs from mainstream media. However, tech companies like Meta, YouTube, and TikTok have been criticized for their unequal standards in content moderation and suppression of Palestinian voices. Palestinian-focused influencers are encouraging their followers to document problematic content enforcement actions, while also adopting unproven strategies to trick the algorithms.