Meta reverses policy on a controversial Arabic term as the Israel-Gaza war continues to spark Big Tech debates

As we reported a few months ago, Meta’s independent Oversight Board recommended that the Facebook parent end its policy of banning the Arabic term “shaheed” when used in reference to what Meta views as a dangerous individual or organization.

Meta’s stance was that the term, which usually translates as “martyr,” was one of praise in these circumstances. However, “shaheed” does not always signal approval, and the issue was fraught enough for the company to ask the Oversight Board for its opinion (the board, which is funded by Meta, cannot issue binding recommendations outside of specific cases). And now, having received it, the company has decided to change the policy.

Today, Meta said it would now only ban content with the word “shaheed” if it violates other policies or comes with “one or more of three signals of violence,” namely: a picture of weaponry; wording that advocates the use or carrying of weaponry; or a reference to a “designated event” such as a terrorist attack.

The Oversight Board still wants to see Meta become more transparent about how it designates people, organizations, and events as being dangerous, but it nonetheless welcomed the move, saying the previous policy had led to millions of takedowns affecting mostly Muslim users.

“This change may not be easy, but it is the right thing to do and an important step to take. By vowing to adopt a more nuanced approach that will better protect freedom of expression, while also ensuring the most harmful material is still removed, Meta is stepping up,” board member Paolo Carozza said in a statement.

Others are not so pleased with Meta’s decision, with Sacha Roytman—CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement—saying in a statement that “social media platforms have been used as recruitment centers for terrorist organizations over the last few years, and social media companies should be working to prevent rather than assisting this process.”

Meta is not the only Big Tech outfit to face tough content calls in the context of the Israel-Gaza war, which began when Hamas, the militant group that ruled Gaza for a generation, slaughtered 1,139 people in Israel on Oct. 7 last year. Since then, the war has claimed over 37,000 lives in Gaza.

Also today, Wired reported on the disquiet within YouTube over the Google property’s decision not to take down a Hebrew rap song that backs the Israeli military action in Gaza with praise for bombing and shooting, and with references to Hamas fighters as rats.

According to the piece, YouTube decided that the song targets Hamas rather than Palestinians in general, and there is no penalty for hate speech against terrorist organizations. However, some employees reportedly note that the song uses the Biblical term “Amalek,” which refers to Israel’s historical enemies, and say it therefore genocidally targets Palestinians in general. YouTube did not dispute the reporting of the internal controversy, but denied accusations of biased content moderation.

“The suggestion that we apply our policies differently based on which religion or ethnicity is featured in the content is simply untrue,” spokesperson Jack Malon told Wired. “We have removed tens of thousands of videos since this conflict began. Some of these are tough calls, and we don’t make them lightly, debating to get to the right outcome.”

More news below.

David Meyer

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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com