Following months of pressure from pro-Israeli groups, Meta has suspended the accounts of Iranian leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei from Instagram and Facebook.

On Instagram, Sayyed Khamenei's followers on the Persian-language account have surpassed 5.1 million followers while the number of followers on his English-language account surpassed 204 thousand.

Meta also suspended Sayyed Khamenei's accounts on its Facebook platform and accounts affiliated with the leader have consistently posted support for Gaza and the Palestinian people while asserting that the end of the Israeli is near. 

In 2022, the X platform (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk removed one of the accounts of Sayyed Khamenei.

In September, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Elon Musk to practice more censorship on the billionaire's social media platform X under the guise of "antisemitism" during a face-to-face meeting in California.

Last year, Meta announced that it now permits sharing posts calling for the death of Iran’s leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

The decision overturns an earlier policy to ban such posts, with Meta claiming that the phrase "Death to Khamenei" does not entail a literal threat against his life.

Users can now liberally use the phrase in English or Farsi, without violating the company's policies and risking penalties.

X suspends pro-Palestinian activists for 'violating platform rules'

Last month social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, suspended several pro-Palestinian and left-leaning accounts and journalists calling for the end of the Israeli genocide in Gaza. 

The users had been suspended for violating X's rules, although said rules were not mentioned or expanded on. X later restored the accounts but is yet to clarify the terms under which suspension was viable. 

Similar precedents include Instagram censorship as well. On Christmas Eve, Instagram permanently terminated activist Shaun King's account, which was dedicated to exposing Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Instagram also employs media censorship by hiding posts under the pretense of promoting "violent speech".

Censoring Palestine: Flawed Meta policies, undue gov. influence - HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report in December titled "Meta's Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook," which reveals how moderation rules and algorithms have progressively repressed voices in support of Palestine on Instagram and Facebook and suppressed protected speech, including nonviolent communication in favor of Palestine and public discussion about Palestinian human rights. 

According to HRW, an overreliance on automated technologies to monitor material and disproportionate government control over content deletions contribute to censorship.

Deborah Brown, acting associate technology and human rights director at HRW, said the censorship added "insult to injury at a time of unspeakable atrocities and repression already stifling Palestinians’ expression."

Brown notes that social media is a tool to witness this abuse and speak out against it and that censorship only furthers the suffering of Palestinians.