Groups supporting Palestinian rights concerned after Musk's trip to Israel

During Elon Musk's recent trip to Israel, the tech billionaire and CEO of Tesla Motors, met with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, visited a kibbutz attacked by Hamas, backed Israel's war on Gaza and appeared to roll back on technical support.

Nidaa Bassoumi, a Palestinian and Media Coordinator at Sada Social, an organisation driving Palestinian digital rights, says the organisation issued a plea to Musk, expressing significant concern about his visit to Israel and the potential threat it poses to "the minimal actions Palestinians can take on social media platforms."

Bassoumi describes X, formerly Twitter and owned by Musk as providing "a vital source of information and a primary means of communication with Palestinians in Gaza, conveying their stories and narratives. Meanwhile, other platforms increasingly lean towards pro- "Israel" policies."

Groups see Musk's trip to the Middle East as a step back for Palestinians and organisations providing relief in the besieged enclave. It comes after heavy Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 15,899 Palestinians. Around 80 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have also been displaced since October 7.

In the same month, Israel cut off telecommunications networks, resulting in a communications blackout in Gaza amid concerns about the UN's operations, healthcare services and locals.

Musk said Starlink, which claims to be the "world's most advanced broadband satellite internet," and is used by 2 million people across seven continents in over 60 countries, would "support connectivity to internationally recognised aid organisations in Gaza."

His announcement received strong Israeli pushback, while some observers regarded Musk's pledge as a breakthrough to boost communication amid the devastation.

Nevertheless, during Musk's trip to the Middle East, Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi announced a deal was reached with Musk for Starlink to "only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip."

Eric Sype, US National Organiser of 7amleh, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, a non-profit launched 10 years ago to bolster Palestinian digital rights, says Starlink is one potential tool that would provide support for Palestinians in Gaza - with the Information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure "almost entirely destroyed."

On Monday, the Palestine Telecommunications Company said Gaza is experiencing its fourth spell since October 7 where communications services have been completely cut off after heavy Israeli shelling.

"Families are not able to be in touch with each other, humanitarian aid organisations cannot communicate with staff to coordinate responses, and Gazans cannot adequately communicate with the outside world to show the reality of their situation," Sype tells TRT World.

Amid the devastation in Gaza, Sype says it is crucial there is commitment and investment in a Palestinian-controlled ICT infrastructure, following the pledges made in the Oslo Accords.

"Starlink could tremendously help alleviate suffering and connect Palestinians to their loved ones and the world in the interim," says Sype.

Bassoumi says Starlink would free Palestine and Gaza from Israeli restrictions on communication. She notes a challenging environment for Palestinians with setbacks that impact the development of its own communications network.

She says some resources like tools and cables are barred from entering Gaza that could strengthen its communications infrastructure. Other materials, she says only enter "after obtaining prior permission from the occupation, along with a clear and advance declaration of the purpose for using these networks".

As such, Bassoumi calls for communications network development to "exclusively occur in the presence of United Nations personnel," referencing Israel's control of Gaza's Mediterranean Sea and its ongoing occupation of the West Bank since 1967. She adds submarine cables also have to pass through Israeli checkpoints.

During the trip, Musk also faced criticism for not visiting Gaza to observe the widespread destruction. It led to the Palestinian group Hamas inviting Musk to view what it calls "the extent of the massacres and destruction committed against the people of Gaza, in compliance with the standards of objectivity and credibility."

Bassoumi says Sada Social also "warned against bias aligned with Israeli pressures", insisting the centre also invited Musk to visit Gaza to witness firsthand "the conditions of Palestinians under Israeli massacres, in which his platform sensors."

"This is to ensure he (Musk) sees and hears it (Gaza), recognising the urgent need to provide Palestinians with a safe and free space for expression, storytelling, and narration, away from any digital violations," she adds.

Impact on social media

There has also been an impact when it comes to online spaces. Sada Social has recorded numerous complaints about Palestinian content being restricted on X that Bassoumi says have "escalated" following Musk's visit to Israel.

Before his trip to the Middle East, Musk pushed to shift X policy and prohibit the terms "decolonisation" and "from the river to the sea", with users facing potential suspension.

"Within 24 hours of Musk's visit, Sada Social received unprecedented complaints warning X accounts of potential deletion, compared to October," Bassoumi tells TRT World.

Nevertheless, Musk has insisted his trip to Israel was not in response to the controversy over his X post, pushing back against the notion of an "apology tour."

The billionaire has sought to distance himself from what recent reports called an "anti-Semitic post" which drew criticism from the White House.

Big advertisers like Comcast, Paramount and Warner Bros. pulled ads from X amid fears of increasing antisemitism on the site, claiming Musk rolled back controls relating to hate speech after acquiring the platform.

The response appeared to draw the wrath of Musk, who claimed he did not want them to advertise. "if someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money, go f**k yourself," he said.

"We cannot dissociate economic pressures and boycotts against firms and governments who support Israel from X platform's attitude," says Bassoumi.

She says it was "clear" following Musk's statements after October 7 that he "had no intention of responding to content removal requests, and his recent statements that he would delete such content and would not allow the spread of Palestinian content."

According to Sype, "We expect X and Musk to respect and protect the digital rights of all of its users, including Palestinians and Israelis, regardless of political pressures and power relations."

Since acquiring Twitter in October 2022, Musk has faced several challenges.

In September, he threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organisation fighting anti-Semitism, claiming their actions contributed to a longstanding loss of advertisers on X. Last month, X reportedly lost half of its value since Musk's acquisition.

'Further away from a human rights centred approach'

"Since taking over the company, Musk has moved the platform's policies further and further away from a human rights centred approach, and made X a more harmful space for all users," says Sype.

Since October 7, Sada Social has found more than 14,000 digital violations against Palestinian content on social media, with 55 percent of these targeting Palestinian news platforms. Bassoumi describes the trend as a "significant violation of the right to access information and media coverage for a party directly involved in the conflict".

She says social media have clamped down, "enforcing strict content controls on Palestinian content", describing "double standards" when it comes to enforcing content controls in Hebrew.

Bassoumi says the organisation has observed more than 27,000 cases of incitement and hate speech in Hebrew and other languages on social media that calls "for the killing and annihilation of Palestinians and tightening the blockade on them since the beginning of the war."

During the same timeframe, 7amleh's "Violence Tracker" has also documented more than 1.7 million harmful posts targeting Palestinians.

Sype says, "Since the beginning of this crisis, X has been a hotbed for hate speech and incitement to violence against Palestinians, and the platform has an obligation to better protect all of its users, including Palestinians".