Facebook’s rating on Google Play Store has fallen down from 4.0 to nearly 2.5 in recent weeks. It has been reported that people have been giving it only a 1-Star rating on many other social media forums. They opined that the platform clearly has an absurd sense of justice and equality. They complained that Facebook was supposed to provide freedom in raising voices but that is not what the users felt. Reportedly, whenever they voiced their support for Palestine or condemned Israel’s behavior, their accounts were suspended. Some of them reacted by lowering the numbers of Facebook Play Store ratings.
Collective Effort to Bring Facebook Play Store Rating
Social media users felt that there was probably a pattern to all of this, as the other social networks also flagged accounts supporting Palestine for no absolute reason. There have been many protests around the world in solidarity with the oppressed. Some used the internet to demonstrate their own way of protest by rating it lowest on the Play Store.
Facebook Play Store rating indicates that whether users are happy with the performance of the app or not. Palestine supporters made sure that the rating appeared as poor as possible.
It is not the first time Facebook has faced criticism regarding inequality. In the recent past, the social app has largely pushed the Israeli narrative forcefully.
Is Facebook’s Freedom of Speech for Everyone?
According to the reports, the people belonging to or having roots in South Asia, the Middle East, or Arab nations have faced this treatment from Facebook the most. Their accounts were permanently banned for speaking against Israeli forces and their aggression on Palestinians. It led them to wonder what exactly did Facebook meant by its freedom of speech policy.
Facebook’s sister Instagram also took down many pro-Palestinian posts regarding Israeli plans of forced eviction and attack on Al Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces. Just like last year, when Instagram removed Bella Hadid’s story about her Palestinian heritage. Reportedly, Twitter also did the same thing but later both social apps blamed ‘technical glitches’ leading to post removals. Later both of them reinstated the posts but data rights groups suspected that it was discriminatory algorithms so Facebook needed to be more transparent.
Facebook Play Store rating may go down further if it continues to suppress Palestinian voices rather than amplifying them when it is needed the most.
Violation of User’s Consent to Promote Israeli Agenda
A few days ago, in another instance, a Pro-Israel Facebook page named ‘Jerusalem Prayer Team’ got automatically liked by more than 75 million users globally. These users also included those who were firmly against the content of the page and called it Israeli propaganda.
Facebook apparently advises against fake news but also auto-likes the fake news itself for its users after violating their consent. The page started trending throughout the ongoing brutality of Israel. Many people took to Twitter to point out the problem.
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