Facebook and its Instagram platform have wrongfully removed and suppressed content by Palestinians, including about abuses during Israeli-Palestinian violence this year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday.
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The accusation adds to pressure on the world's largest social network after a whistleblower told US lawmakers on Tuesday that the company needs to be regulated, French news agency AFP said.
Palestinians had complained publicly about alleged censorship of social networks in May, when unrest in Jerusalem escalated into a deadly military confrontation between terrorist groups firing rockets from the Gaza Strip and Israel, which launched retaliatory airstrikes.
"Facebook has suppressed content posted by Palestinians and their supporters speaking out about human rights issues in Israel and Palestine," Deborah Brown, senior digital rights researcher for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that called the action "censorship."
The US-based watchdog urged Facebook to commission an "independent investigation into content moderation regarding Israel and Palestine, particularly in relation to any bias or discrimination in its policies, enforcement, or systems".
HRW cited three examples in which Instagram removed posts for containing "hate speech or symbols", yet the posts were later reinstated after complaints.
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This "suggests that Instagram's detection or reporting mechanisms are flawed", the watchdog said.
Earlier this year, HRW accused Israel of subjecting Palestinians to a regime of apartheid, an accusation Israel staunchly rejects.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
