“Rarely do we see – and this is what bothers me – forms of illegal, discriminatory and disproportionate restrictions by States and private actors on the right to freedom of expression,” Irene Khan, person United Nations Special Rapporteur has a mandate to promote and protect this right globally.
Ms. Khan informed journalists at the United Nations Headquarters about her latest information reportwhich she presented to the United Nations General Assembly the previous day.
It documents the severe restrictions in violation of freedom of expression arising from the conflict, incl killing journalists in Gaza, suppressing protests worldwide and silencing artists and scholars.
Silence the media
Ms. Khan drew attention to serious attacks on the media in Gaza, as well as in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
She pointed to the targeted killing and arbitrary detention of journalists, widespread destruction of press facilities and equipment in Gaza, denial of access to international media, and banning of news channels. Al Jazeera and tightening censorship in Israel and occupied Palestinians. Territory.
These actions “appear to indicate a strategy by Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and hinder the recording of possible international crimes,” she said.
Although the intentional killing of a journalist is a war crime, “not a single killing of a journalist in the past year or, for that matter, in previous years in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, has ever been properly investigated, prosecuted or punished,” she said. added, noting “complete impunity”.
Protesters demonstrate outside the Columbia University campus in New York City.
Palestinian protests and symbols are banned
Her reporting also highlighted discrimination and double standards that limit free speech in support of Palestinian rights and crackdown on protests against the massacre in Gaza.
Ms. Khan said bans, including some comprehensive bans, on pro-Palestinian protests have been imposed in many European countries, and campus protests held earlier this year in the United States was harshly suppressed.
The public display of Palestinian national symbols such as flags or emblems keffiyehas well as certain slogans, have also been banned and even criminalized in some countries.
She explained that such general discriminatory bans are inherently incompatible with international human rights because they do not meet the requirements of necessity, proportionality and the principle of non-discrimination.
“Failure to respect international standards is an issue of global concern because it sends a message around the world that freedom of expression can be suppressed at will or for political purposes,” she said. political purpose”.
Artists and scholars are silent
Her reporting reveals that silencing and sidelining dissenting voices in academia and the arts also accompanies war.
Ms. Khan noted that “some of the best academic institutions in the world have failed to ensure equal protection for all members of their academic communities, whether Jewish, Palestinian, Israeli, Arab, Muslim or otherwise.”
As a result, intellectual exchange is diminished and artistic freedom is being censored in many Western institutions.
“I have received complaints from academics about the chilling impact on their academic research, on their political policy discourse regarding the Palestinian situation or on their political policies,” she said. Book of Israel”.
Meanwhile, artists and writers were threatened, isolated or excluded from events because they expressed their views on the Gaza conflict or were critical of Israel – or were not critical of Israel.
Social media divides
The report also looks at social media platforms, which are both the lifeline for communication to and from Gaza but also “Main vectors” of disinformationmisinformation and hate speech.
While Arabs, Jewish Israelis and Palestinians are all targeted online, “most companies show bias in their response, as far as I can see… more lenient towards Israel and more restrictions on Palestinian expression,” she said.
“From what I can see, it appears that inherently biased policies, inconsistent content moderation, and overreliance on automated tools have led to content moderation. unbalanced content exceeding this limit.
Hate speech and protected speech
She then mentioned how international legal standards are being applied. distorted and misinterpreted to conflate criticism of Israel and Zionism with anti-SemitismThis is happening both online and offline.
Ms. Khan admitted that this is a controversial issue, “but I stand firm on this issue.”
She explained that anti-Semitism is racial, specifically that it is the worst form of racial and religious hatred against Jews and must be unequivocally condemned.
“But Combining protected speech, i.e. political criticism, with prohibited speech, i.e. hate speech, weakens the fight against anti-Semitism, and it also chills freedom of speech. essayshe said.
Introduction to UN rapporteurs
Special rapporteurs like Ms. Khan are part of the so-called Special procedures belong to Human Rights Councilthe largest independent expert body in the United Nations Human Rights system.
They are appointed by the Council to monitor and report on specific country situations or thematic issues.
These professionals work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN employees and do not receive compensation for their work. They are independent of any government or organization and serve as individuals.
