Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Saturday blamed Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg for the attacks on Israel by Palestinian terrorists, including the recent stabbing to death of a 13-year-old girl in her own bed.
Erdan has criticized the social network for failing to ban posts that provoke acts of violence against Israelis.
“Some of the victims’ blood is on Zuckerberg’s hands,” he told Channel 2. “Facebook has turned into a monster. The younger generation in the Palestinian Authority runs its entire discourse of incitement and lies and finally goes out to commit murderous acts on Facebook’s platform.”
Terrorist Mohammed Nasser Tarayra posted several disturbing messages on his page, including his ambition to die a “martyr’s death”, before murdering 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel near the West Bank city of Hebron.
Erdan blamed Facebook, claiming that they “could have reported to the police or defense officials about the post put up by that despicable murderer.”
He also claims that the company has ignored Israeli authority’s inquiries in regard to posts that cause security worries. “When it comes to Judea and Samaria [West Bank] settlers, Facebook doesn’t cooperate and sets a high bar for removing inciting content and posts,” he added.
In response to Erdan’s accusations, Facebook released a statement to Newsweek: “We work regularly with safety organizations and policy makers around the world, including Israel, to ensure that people know how to make a safe use of Facebook,” it reads. “There is no room for content that promotes violence, direct threats, terrorist or hate speeches on our platform.”
It continues: “We have a set of community standards designed to help people understand what’s allowed on Facebook, and we call on people to use our report if they find the content they believe violates these rules, so that we can examine each case and take a quick action. We have regular dialogue with the government on these issues.”
While Israel blames anti-Semitism for the attacks, the Palestinian government blames the Israeli military occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.