YouTube Removes Accounts of Palestinian Human Rights Groups, Erasing Hundreds of Videos
YouTube has taken down the accounts of three major Palestinian human rights organizations — the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq, and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights — deleting more than 700 videos that documented alleged abuses by Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank. The removals, which took place in early October, followed sancti
ons imposed by former U.S. president Donald Trump’s administration. The affected videos included testimonies from torture victims and investigations into incidents such as the 2022 killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot by an Israeli sniper while clearly identifiable as a member of the press. An inquiry conducted by Al-Haq and British research group Forensic Architecture concluded that Abu Akleh was deliberately targeted, contradicting Israel’s claim that her death was accidental. YouTube stated that the bans were in response to U.S. sanctions targeting the three groups for assisting the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating alleged war crimes by Israeli officials. In February, Trump also sanctioned ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, who had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. Four ICC judges involved in approving those warrants were later sanctioned as well. Legal experts have questioned YouTube’s justification for the bans. Katherine Gallagher, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, noted that the statute cited by Trump does not authorize the deletion of informational materials, including videos and documents. The incident adds to growing concerns over digital censorship of Palestinian voices. Tech companies have faced repeated criticism for removing pro-Palestinian content since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza intensified in October 2023. Last month, Instagram deleted the account of Gaza-based journalist Saleh Aljafarawi — who had 4.5 million followers — shortly after he was killed by an Israel-backed militia.
