Soon to be repealed: Meta’s ban on ‘Shaheed’ led to largest removals

For the past few years, when Instagram and Facebook users published a post mentioning the word "Shaheed", their phone screens lit up with a swift notification: a warning that their content was removed for violating community standards. The ban was so restrictive that ‘Shaheed' ended up accounting for the largest number of content removals on the company's platforms as a single word or phrase. Recently, a policy review by Meta has led to the repeal of the blanket ban.

On July 2, Meta released a statement welcoming a recommendation by its Oversight Board to lift the indiscriminate censorship of the word’s usage on its social media platforms, acknowledging that the approach thus far has been "overbroad". In March, the Oversight Board had noted that the ban “substantially and disproportionately” restricted free expression.

The decision follows a year-long investigation which concluded that among all censored words or phrases, the word “shaheed” accounted for the largest number of content removals on the company's platforms as a single word or phrase.

Meta previously categorised any use of "shaheed" in reference to individuals it deemed "dangerous" as a violation of its guidelines, interpreting it as an endorsement for violence. The criteria for designating individuals as dangerous, however, has remained unclear.

In its Policy Advisory Opinion recommendations update, Meta acknowledged that “Shaheed'' is used in various contexts in different cultures, religions, and languages across the world. “At times, this approach may result in us removing some content at scale that was never intended to support terrorism or praise violence,” according to the announcement.

Thus, to account for this nuance, the tech giant said that content mentioning the word is now only removed if it is accompanied by other indications of violence.

“Currently, we treat the word “shaheed” as explicit praise when used in reference to a designated individual, and we remove this content when we’re aware of it. We do not remove the word "shaheed" on its own or when used to reference non-designated individuals,” the website of the company’s Transparency Center read.

The indications of violence in question include instances where “one or more of three signals of violence are present: a visual depiction of an armament/weapon, a statement of intent or advocacy to use or carry an armament/weapon, or a reference to a designated event” as well as “when the content otherwise violates Meta's policies,” as outlined in the statement.

The true meaning of the word “Shaheed”

“Shaheed”, often translated into the English as “martyr”, is an Arabic word that denotes “a deceased person who has lived a life in accordance with the will of Allah”, as defined by Collins Dictionary.

In Islamic tradition, the term, literally translating to "witness," refers to Muslims who have died while fulfilling moral responsibilities and religious duties, including in combat.

In the context of Israel’s war on Palestine’s Gaza, the term has often been used to refer to Palestinians or supporters of the Palestinian cause who have been killed, including resistance fighters as well as unarmed women and children which make up the majority of those killed by Israel.

Accusations of failure to combat “anti-Semitism”

Meta’s response on the Board's advisory sparked backlash from Jewish advocacy organisations, with The Combat Anti Semitism Movement (CAM) slamming the tech giant for imposing "double standards" on the Jewish community and “failing to engage with Jewish organisations” while investigating the matter.

Meta has been criticised for years over its handling of content involving the Middle East, including in a 2021 study commissioned by Meta itself, which found its approach had an "adverse human rights impact" on Palestinians and other Arabic-speaking users of its services.

Those criticisms have escalated since the onset of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, as the tech giant constantly gets accused of taking down content expressing support for Palestinians living amid Israel's war on the besieged enclave.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza erupted after Palestinian resistance group Hamas carried out a cross border operation on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 people hostage according to Israeli tallies. Israel, in response, launched an offensive in Gaza that has, in its 10th month, killed over 38,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded over 88,000 others, with 10,000+ estimated to be buried under the debris.