Platforms question for handling of Palestinian rights evidence, conflict terminology
YouTube has deleted the official channels of three major Palestinian human rights organisations, removing more than 700 videos documenting alleged Israeli abuses in Gaza and the West Bank, according to reporting by The Intercept. The affected organisations are Al-Haq, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR).
The outlet reported the deleted material included eyewitness footage, documentary productions and investigative reports, among them videos related to the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The Intercept gives the dates of the removals as October 3 for Al-Haq and October 7 for Al Mezan; PCHR also confirmed loss of its archive.
Action linked to US sanctions
The Intercept reports that YouTube (owned by Google) said the removals followed a review tied to US State Department sanctions imposed on the organisations in September 2025 for their cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC). In the outlet’s account, a Google spokesperson said: “Google is committed to compliance with applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws.”
The sanctions followed ICC prosecutors’ November 2024 arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials. Legal advocates cited in the report told The Intercept that statutes referenced in the sanctions regime include exemptions for informational materials and questioned the legal basis for removing documentation of alleged abuses.
Accountability and access concerns
Representatives of affected groups told The Intercept their channels were terminated without prior notice and said the removals would hinder monitoring and outreach. Basel al-Sourani, international advocacy officer and legal adviser for PCHR, said the action “protects perpetrators from accountability.” An Al-Haq spokesperson described the removals as “an alarming setback for human rights and freedom of expression.”
The Intercept also reported that while some deleted videos are accessible via copies on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine or on other platforms such as Facebook and Vimeo, no comprehensive index of deleted material exists, and many records may not be recoverable. The outlet noted prior platform restrictions affecting Palestinian organisations, including the shutdown of Addameer’s YouTube account and the deletion of Al-Haq’s Mailchimp account.
Platform governance under scrutiny as conflict content is moderated
Separately, The Verge reported that Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales joined an editing dispute over the encyclopedia entry titled “Gaza genocide.” Wales posted on the article’s discussion page and said the entry “is a particularly egregious example” of neutrality problems on the site. He wrote that, “At present, the lede and the overall presentation state, in Wikipedia’s voice, that Israel is committing genocide, although that claim is highly contested.” Wales suggested a neutral lead along these lines: “Multiple governments, NGOs, and legal bodies have described or rejected the characterisation of Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.”
Volunteer editors pushed back, saying Wales’ intervention risked undue influence on community editing processes. The Wikimedia Foundation told The Verge that Wales was speaking in a personal capacity and noted that page protections and enforcement actions are managed by volunteer administrators.
