Menlo Park (California, US): Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it would lift its blanket ban on the word shaheed after a year-long review by its oversight board found the social media giant’s approach was “overboard”.

The company has been criticised for years over its handling of content involving the Middle East, including in a 2021 study Meta itself commissioned that 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.

The oversight board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, started its review last year because the word accounted for more content removals on the company’s platforms than any other single word or phrase. Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2024