Facebook Attacked by Israel Haters

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Some people are trying to hurt Facebook because of Israel. Apparently there are some who think that Facebook unfairly removed anti-Israel posts and pages during the recent fighting in Gaza. So to get back at the company these people have been going around giving Facebook’s apps one star ratings in different app stores. It is doubtful, however, that any of these individuals have actually removed their own personal Facebook pages or have stopped using Instagram and WhatsApp.

And is it even conceivable that Facebook itself could be canceled?

But credit should always be given where credit is due: It takes a great deal of courage and strength in one’s convictions to go after such a large and powerful corporation like Facebook. The organizers of this campaign have really taken great risks while exerting a great deal of personal effort. They face the threat of possibly being banned by Facebook. And think of all the time and energy which went into posting comments on social media platforms.

The people took to Twitter to promote their devious campaign. One Tweet read, “Go to #Facebook app on Android & Apple stores & rate it 1 star for censoring #Palestinian constant + coverage to silence us. It works, it’s down to 2.7 stars now, soon down to 1 star hopefully. #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack.”

Another Tweet read, “A message from Jordanian hacker Ahmed Salih: wars are of different types now, economic and electronic wars are powerful. We all know how Facebook has been supporting the aggression in different ways. Please go to Facebook app on your app store and give Facebook one star+++.”

CNBC reported that the campaign did have an effect. Facebook’s average star rating was down from over 4 out of 5 to 2.3 out of 5 on Apple’s App Store and 2.4 out of 5 on the Google Play store Saturday evening after receiving thousands of one-star reviews. CNBC said that many of the reviews include comments mentioning Facebook’s alleged silencing of Palestinian voices and hashtags such as #FreePalestine or #GazaUnderAttack.

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So what?

How many Facebook users still haven’t added its app to their phones yet? If someone hasn’t then he probably just doesn’t need it. And does anyone really believe that Facebook will suffer because of this?

“Our policies are designed to give everyone a voice while keeping them safe on our apps, and we apply these policies equally, regardless of who is posting or their personal beliefs,” Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement released in response to complaints. “We have a dedicated team, which includes Arabic and Hebrew speakers, closely monitoring the situation on the ground, who are focused on making sure we’re removing harmful content, while addressing any enforcement errors as quickly as possible.”

So far it does not seem that Facebook has been harmed where it really hurts, in its stock’s share price or in its revenue streams. So perhaps this campaign is not going far enough. Maybe these people should go on Instagram and start a “cancel Facebook” campaign like the ones on Instagram which attacked Israel in the past few weeks. Maybe they should start a #GiveInstagramBadReviews campaign on Instagram itself.

WhatsApp promises its users end to end encryption. So maybe these people should use the app itself to get the word out that people should give it a negative review in app stores.

And of course, they can always start new Facebook pages and groups to offer people a platform where they can vent their hatred of the company for not hating Israel enough. Maybe they would get millions, even billions, of people joining and visiting such pages on a regular basis. Boy wouldn’t that teach Facebook a lesson!