Meta permanently bans media outlet The Cradle in latest attack on free speech

The Cradle, Mon, 19 Aug 2024, https://www.sott.net/article/494061-Meta-permanently-bans-media-outlet-The-Cradle-in-latest-attack-on-free-speech

On 16 August, Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta permanently banned The Cradle from its social media platforms for allegedly violating community guidelines by “praising terrorist organizations” and engaging in “incitement to violence.”

“No one can see or find your account, and you can’t use it. All your information will be permanently deleted,” reads the message accompanying the ban on Instagram, where The Cradle had surpassed 107,000 followers and amassed millions of views.

“You cannot request another review of this decision,” the message ends, despite the fact the ban came with little warning or any chance for review.

Comment: For the West-Israel, any organisation that it deems to be an opponent can be categorised as ‘terrorist’, and supporting a group’s resistance to the West-Israel’s war of terror can be considered ‘incitement to violence’. Regardless of whether this targeted group’s resistance is considered legitimate under international law; for example: China tells ICJ Palestinians have ‘inalienable right to use armed force’ against Israeli occupation

The Cradle is an independent, journalist-owned news website that covers the geopolitics of West Asia from a West Asian perspective. Since 2021, the publication has made a name for itself by covering regional developments with the kind of breadth and depth – and nuance – that often go missing in mainstream corporate media.

Meta’s accusations of “praising terrorist organizations” and engaging in “incitement to violence” largely stem from posts and videos that relay information or quotes from West Asian resistance movements like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Ansarallah – who are an essential part of the news stories unfolding in a region on the precipice of a major war.

It is also essential to recognize that these are major West Asian political organizations that have deep institutional and civic roots within Lebanon, Palestine, and Yemen and are part of the very fabric of these societies. They are represented in governance, run schools, hospitals, and utilities, and disperse salaries to millions of civilian workers.

Ironically, many of The Cradle’s Meta-flagged quotes on these organizations also come from Israeli and western officials:

“The intelligence information that Hezbollah has collected is accurate at the level of an advanced western intelligence organization, with observation capabilities, accurate intelligence gathering, and real-time documentation … There is almost no target in the north that Hezbollah cannot hit with over 50 percent success.” – Meta claims this two-month old post violated its guidelines, despite the quotes coming from Israeli journalists and officials.

Other posts that Meta claimed violated its rules included a reel on protesters breaking into an Elbit factory in the UK; a news headline image that reads “Israeli army approves plans for offensive on Lebanon“; and a quote from a Hamas official in Lebanon on how the “[Gaza] support fronts … achieved their goal.”

Although The Cradle had occasionally run afoul of Meta’s frustratingly unspecific community guidelines – which the publication always addressed immediately – matters appeared to come to a head following the 31 July assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh, when the company owned by US billionaire Mark Zuckerberg significantly tightened its grip on free speech.

In the days after Haniyeh’s assassination, Meta took down 10 posts from The Cradle’s Instagram account over 48 hours. These ranged from quotes by Hamas officials and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah condemning massacres in Gaza and the Israeli strikes in Tehran and Beirut, videos released by local resistance factions clashing with the Israeli army in Gaza, and even news headlines about Haniyeh.

One of the posts removed for violations was a headline that read, “Hamas calls for ‘day of rage’ following assassination of Haniyeh.” Another was a carousel of image quotes by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, addressing the assassinations in Beirut and Tehran, and a likely response.

Meta informed The Cradle for the first time in early August, “You could lose our account in the future if you kept violating Meta’s community guidelines.”

Days later, Meta issued its permanent ban, targeting The Cradle’s main Instagram account and a backup account that had not violated any of the company’s guidelines. Hours later, the company disabled The Cradle’s Facebook page, which was not directly linked to the Instagram account and was registered under a completely different email. Meta clarified in its message regarding permanently removing the backup account that it does not allow “creating another account after we’ve suspended yours.” The backup account was created before the suspension.
We believe that this serves as evidence that Meta was targeting The Cradle in its entirety.

The Cradle’s business account on Instagram was clearly identified from the onset as a ‘news website/media’ company.

Other news pages on Meta, such as Middle East Eye and Al Jazeera, post similar footage and content – videos released by Hamas and Hezbollah, for example – and appear free to do so without having their posts removed. The Cradle’s description of these posts has been strictly neutral throughout.

Comment: The difference is that The Cradle is much more explicit in revealing the lies, hypocrisy, and corruption. These other outlets tend to adopt analysis that is erroneously ‘balanced’.