Meta Asked To End Ban On Using The Word "Sahid"

Meta has been banning the word suhid on its social media. (photo: dock. meta)

JAKARTA The Meta Supervisory Board on Tuesday 26 March asked the company to end a general ban on the use of the word Arab "shaheed," (sahid) or "martir" in English, after a one-year review found that the Facebook owner's approach was "too widespread" and there was no need to suppress the words of millions of users.

The Supervisory Board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, said the social media giant should delete posts containing the word "sahid" only when it comes to clear signs of violence or if they separately violate other Meta rules.

The ruling comes after years of criticism of the handling of corporate content involving the Middle East, including in a 2021 study conducted by Meta itself that found the company's approach to having "adverse human rights impacts" on Palestinians and other Arabic-speaking users of its services.

The criticism has increased since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. Human rights groups have accused Meta of suppressing Palestinian-backed content on Facebook and Instagram amid a war that has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza following Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on October 7.

The Meta Supervisory Board reached a similar conclusion in its report on Tuesday, finding that Meta's rules on "sahid" failed to take into account the various meanings of the word and resulted in the removal of content that was not aimed at praising acts of violence.

"Currently Meta removes all posts that use sahid' in referring to the person set on its 'dangerous organization and individual' list, which includes members of Islamist militant groups, drug cartels, and white supremacist organizations.

The company says the word is a tribute to the entity, which it prohibits, in accordance with court reports. Hamas is one of the groups designated by the company as a "dangerous organization."

Meta sought input from the court on this topic last year, after embarking on a review of the policy in 2020 but failing to reach an internal consensus, the court said. This reveals in his request that "sahid" accounts for more content removal on its platform than other words or phrases.

A Meta spokesperson said in a statement that the company would review feedback from the court and would provide a response within 60 days.