On March 6, US social media influencer and content creator, Melissa Chapman, who frequently posted updates about the news in Israel, wrote a comment factually disputing Gigi Hadid’s Instagram post comparing the “human injustice” and “suffering” of Ukrainians to Palestinians. She also posted that comment under Vogue Magazine’s post applauding Hadid.
Five days later, six of Chapman’s Instagram posts that illustrated what happened to Eli Kay, a 26-year-old IDF soldier who was murdered by a Hamas terrorist, were suddenly removed. Instagram determined that her content was violent or dangerous, and warned that she could lose access to her account. A photo of Jews praying with siddurs, mourning for Eli Kay in the Old City where he was killed, was singled out as the reason why Chapman could no longer access branded content tools that allow her to monetize her account until June 10. Her account - @melissaSchapman -was also shadow banned, making it virtually impossible for other users to find her on the site.
Other deleted posts included a tribute to Eli Kay, security guards entering the gates of Jerusalem after he was killed, young men standing by the Israeli flag and people gathering at the Western Wall where Eli Kay worked as a guide. A picture of the murderer, Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, with his son, who praised him for being a martyr, was also taken down.
Out of fear of losing her business, Chapman has removed most of her Israel content.
Chapman is not alone. The Consulate General of Israel in New York's media department has been receiving several reports of antisemitic comments on social media, as well as accounts being reported for posting pro-Israel messages.
The consulate said that it is working to find out who is behind these attacks on Jewish influencers, which it is labeling as "cyberbullying."
"It is our duty to fight antisemitism on all fronts, and social media cannot be excused from the conversation,” Asaf Zamir, the Consul General of Israel in New York, declared in a statement. “Jewish influencers should not get banned from a platform for simply posting about their religious heritage and nationality."
Emily Schrader, CEO and co-founder of the digital marketing firm, Social Lite Creative, has also had content removed from Instagram. She posted a video of terrorist Ahlam Tamimi smiling joyfully when she found out she killed eight children in the 2001 Sbarro terror attack and captioned it, “This is what evil looks like.” It was removed 12 hours later.
Michael Dickson, executive director of StandWithUs, an education organization that combats antisemitism and supports Israel, explains that it’s crucial social media platforms "ensure that their algorithms, as well as human oversight, do not confuse the posts that are meant to expose violent content with the posts that are meant to inspire hate and violence.”
In terms of content restrictions, Schrader states, “TikTok has also censored and removed my content countless times about pro-Israel issues. In some cases, the same content has been reposted by other supporters of my work and theirs won't be censored, but mine is! The people reposting have smaller followings than me. I think they are able to post because people mass report mine.” Schrader also notices an extremely disproportionate number of likes and comments compared to the view count.
Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism.org, explains, “We are often the target of mass reporting campaigns that sometimes results in the ‘downranking’ of our page. We’re thankful for the relationship we have with META so incidents like this are often remedied quickly. However, the majority of Israeli and Jewish influencers and allies do not, unfortunately resulting in their voice and content suppression…It’s essentially a form of censorship.”
The Jerusalem Post reached out to Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. A Meta spokesperson from Instagram replied, “Our policies are designed to let our community share what matters to them while keeping them safe, and we always work to apply these policies as accurately and consistently as possible. Our teams are looking into the accounts flagged by the Jerusalem Post, to make sure we haven’t made mistakes in enforcing our policies."
Melissa Chapman reported to The Jerusalem Post that, earlier today, Instagram gave her back her branded content tools.