YouTube, a major tech giant, has removed at least 700 videos, highlighting human rights violations in Palestine during the war and highlighting Israeli offenses and genocide in Gaza.
According to a report by The interceptionThe platform deleted more than 700 videos belonging to three prominent Palestinian human rights groups: Al-Haq, Al Mezan Central for Human Rights and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
The platform had removed videos showing the pain of the mother who survived Israel's genocide in Gaza, the murder of the Palestinian-American journalist and others highlighting the destruction imposed by Israel in Gaza.
The videos were removed following a US campaign preventing Israelis from being held accountable for their war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity in Gaza in October.
Google-owned YouTube confirmed the suspension of the accounts, citing US trade and sanctions laws.
“Google is committed to complying with applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws,” YouTube spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle said in a statement.
Katherine Gallagher, senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said the platform was furthering the US administration's agenda of hiding evidence of human rights violations and war crimes from public view by removing content.
A spokesperson for one of the dismissed organizations, Al-Haq, said its YouTube channel was closed without warning, demonstrating a serious breach of its own principles.
