The UK’s Online Safety Act is fueling censorship of Gaza — this must stop

Read in Arabic / للقراءة بالعربية
 

Skyline International for Human Rights (SIHR) condemns the systematic censorship of content documenting atrocities in Gaza by social media platforms. While state pressure contributes to this suppression, companies like Meta and TikTok are increasingly exploiting the UK’s Online Safety Act to remove critical evidence of war crimes under the false banner of "compliance" and "user protection."

The Online Safety Act, which came into effect in late 2023 with full enforcement by mid-2025, was ostensibly introduced to protect users, particularly minors, from harmful and illegal online content. However, its dangerously broad definitions of "harm" coupled with severe financial penalties—reaching up to 10% of global revenue or £18 million—have forced platforms into excessive censorship. 

New age verification requirements implemented in July 2025 have made matters worse, with BBC Verify confirming these systems have blocked UK users from accessing public-interest content related war coverage, including factual, videos, images, and documentation of civilian casualties and bombed neighborhoods in Gaza, unless users prove they are over 18.

This censorship operates with glaring bias. Human Rights Watch reports that Meta has complied with 94% of Israeli government takedown requests, removing or restricting over 39 million posts since the war began. Peaceful expressions like "Free Palestine" or “From the river to the sea” are often removed under spam or hate speech policies, regardless of context or intent, while appeal systems remain broken. Meanwhile, explicit calls for ethnic cleansing by Israeli officials and media figures circulate unchallenged.

For Palestinians in Gaza enduring both bombardment and digital blackouts, this censorship is catastrophic. When journalists are regularly targeted, independent media cannot access Gaza, and internet access is weaponized, social media posts become crucial evidence for advocacy and legal accountability. Yet UK regulations now reward platforms for preemptively silencing these voices, erasing history as it unfolds and systematically distorting global understanding of the genocide.

Digital spaces are not neutral. They are shaped by laws, algorithms, and power. Right now, they are working against Palestinians trying to show the world the human cost of this war.

We call on tech platforms to stop weaponizing "compliance" to censor Gaza content and fix broken appeals systems. We also demand the UK amend the Online Safety Act to exempt war documentation and establish independent oversight - because no law should ever silence genocide evidence.