A leading human rights group accused Facebook on Friday of improperly removing pro-Palestine content from its platforms during the Israeli-Palestinian crisis in May. 

“Facebook has suppressed content posted by Palestinians and their supporters speaking out about human rights issues in Israel and Palestine,” said researcher Deborah Brown from Human Rights Watch. “With the space for such advocacy under threat in many parts of the world, Facebook censorship threatens to restrict a critical platform for learning and engaging on these issues.”

Violence broke out in Israel and the Palestinian territories in May after tensions near holy sites in Jerusalem. Israel and Gaza-based groups battled one another, and there was also unprecedented violence between Jews and Arabs within Israel. 

Much of the New York-based organization’s report focused on content removed from Instagram, which is a social media network for photos that is owned by Facebook. One user posted a picture with a caption reading, “This is a photo of my family’s building before it was struck by Israeli missiles on Saturday, May 15, 2021. We have three apartments in this building.” The post was removed for allegedly containing hate speech or symbols, according to Human Rights Watch.