How Israel is digitally policing Palestinian minds

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/israel-digitally-policing-palestinian-minds-171205071733121.html
Date Written:  2017-12-05
Publisher:  Aljazeera
Year Published:  2017
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX21775

Israeli authorities have been arresting and holding hundreds of Palestinians it accuses of fanning the flames of violence in the occupied West Bank and Israel.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

This heightened digital policing has left one Palestinian citizen of Israel embroiled in a legal fiasco. Dareen Tatour, a 36-year-old poet, spent three months in jail and remains - more than two years in - under house arrest over a poem she posted on Facebook in 2015 about Palestinian resistance.

Many Palestinians like Tatour have been arrested over their social media posts, particularly on Facebook, which has become the main conduit for discussion and dissent. Indictments for online incitement, which seem to target younger Palestinians, have tripled since 2014, according to the Israeli Justice Ministry.

Palestinian rights groups say this alarming trend is aimed at stifling freedom of expression. In Israeli military courts, West Bank Palestinians can be prosecuted for their views; an actual crime does not have to be committed as a result of the social media posts.