Surveillance state

Israeli officials have blamed social media for inciting a wave of violent attacks by Palestinians that began in October 2015. Since then, Israeli security forces have arrested about 400 Palestinians for social media activity, according to Palestinian rights groups Addameer and Adalah. Most of the arrests have been for postings on Facebook, a popular network among Palestinians. The arrests of Palestinians for social media posts open a window into the practices of Israel's surveillance state and reveal social media's darker side. What was once seen as a weapon of the weak has turned into the perfect place to ferret out potential resistance.

Lat year alone, the Israeli attorney general opened 155 investigations into alleged social media incitement, a marked increase from previous years. The vast majority of cases have been directed at Arabs in Israel. Fear is a favourite weapon, and it works as well with governments as it does with individual people. Nations and people are terrified of terrorism, and many are quite willing to give up all sorts of freedoms for the sake of security.

Ted Rudow III, MA

CA, USA