Exposing Big Tech's Psychological Warfare on Palestine

Biased algorithms infect millions worldwide, favoring pro-Israeli propaganda and anti-Palestinian narratives, subtly inserting racism into global minds.

By Karim Bettache

In recent years, a select few technology firms have amassed tremendous power over the digital landscape, controlling the platforms where public discourse unfolds. But many experts argue these companies now wield this power in deeply concerning ways.

According to Mint Press news, evidence suggests an entangling of major tech corporations like Facebook with the Israeli government, prioritizing Israeli establishment interests over principles of justice and human rights. Critics reference the revolving door of personnel between Silicon Valley and Israel. This leads to a lopsided censorship regime, where pro-Palestinian voices face continuous takedowns and bans on these platforms. Users see their speech suppressed when it contradicts official Israeli narratives. This violates the very free expression values tech firms claim to protect.

The insidious danger is how these biased algorithms infect the perspectives of millions worldwide. As dominant tech platforms spread across the globe, the slanted worldviews encoded in their systems are transmitted to vast audiences. When pro-Israeli propaganda is favored and anti-Palestinian narratives promoted, this distortion subtly spreads anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiments among international users. People absorb and internalize the embedded biases behind the content they consume online. In this way, local injustice and unequal representation by algorithms gets amplified into global communities. What began as one government's disproportionate influence over tech systems turns into a mechanism promoting the systemic dehumanization of an entire people worldwide. This reveals how encoding biases into powerful algorithms can profoundly shape hearts and minds at massive scale.

Calls grow louder for transparency around how the Israeli government shapes content rules. People demand reforms so diverse perspectives can be heard, not just views favorable to Israel.

Similarly, mainstream Western media outlets face accusations of exhibiting a systematic anti-Palestinian bias in their coverage of violence in Gaza. Pundits provide sympathetic platforms to Israeli officials, while interrogating Palestinian guests and skeptically questioning their perspectives. This coverage frequently downplays or ignores Palestinian loss of life and suffering. Critics condemn this propaganda-like slant from networks claiming to be objective news authorities.

More alarming still, even cutting-edge AI and algorithms may further injustice when disproportionately shaped by one side in a conflict. Critics warn many automated systems ingest biased data and encode uneven worldviews. For example, YouTube's recommendation algorithm has been shown to steer viewers towards pro-Israel misinformation on Gaza. If left unaudited and unaccountable, such algorithmic biases will become further entrenched.

Overall, a pattern emerges of tech and media firms aligning too closely with the Israeli government. In this position, they risk enabling the oppression and erasure of vulnerable groups like Palestinians. If technology companies wish to be forces for good, they must correct these biases by embracing transparency, pursuing accountability, and centering all users in their policies, not just governments and corporations. The call grows for Big Tech to break its ties with systems of inequality and to release the workings of their algorithms, before that injustice becomes further encoded into our digital DNA.