Menlo Park, California – Facebook's censorship of the word "Zionist" is coming under fire from Palestinian rights activists as posts documenting Israeli state violence are being deleted.

The Intercept obtained policies from the social media giant detailing its censorship of the word "Zionist" as a possible form of "hate speech."

Though it can be used in a hateful way, "Zionist" describes a person who advocates Zionism, a political ideology promoting the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, which ultimately led to the establishment of Israel in 1948.

While the word has long been a staple of antisemitic conspiracy theories, it is not by definition anti-Jewish. Jillian York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation explained, "Palestinians use it as a synonym for 'colonizer', not for 'Jew.'"

Nevertheless, Facebook's policy states that the term may be used to promote antisemitic messages, which doesn't take into account its use in criticizing Israeli state violence.

The censorship of this discourse comes as the number of Palestinian casualties in the region mounts. According to the Middle East Eye, 197 Palestinians, including 58 children, have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Israeli forces also bombed a high-rise building in Gaza containing the offices of various international media outlets.

Meanwhile, the expulsion of Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem rages on as Israeli mobs openly attack Palestinian civilians on the streets.

Israel has reported the death of 10 citizens, including one child, as a result of Hamas rockets.

The company's policy provides the following example for a post that should be removed: "Delete: Parent Content, 'Israeli settlers refuse to leave houses built on Palestinian territory'; Comment, 'F*** Zionists!'"

Critics say the original post in the example is factually reporting actions by the Israeli state rooted in Zionist ideology. Censoring such posts in effect muzzles Palestinians and other activists on the ground and prevents them from speaking out against the Israeli government.

Dani Noble of Jewish Voice for Peace said, "Facebook claims that their policy on the word 'Zionist' is about Jewish safety. But, according to their content policy excerpt, it seems Facebook decision-makers are more concerned with shielding Zionist Israeli settlers and the Israeli government from accountability for these crimes."

A Facebook representative told The Intercept that their removal of videos of Israeli violence was part of a "wider technical issue" on Instagram and "mistaken" deletions.

Another spokesperson for the company denied accusations that deletions were meant to silence Palestinian voices: "We recognize the sensitivity of this debate, and the fact that the word 'Zionist' is frequently used in important political debate. Our intention is never to stifle that debate, but to make sure that we’re allowing as much speech as possible, while keeping everyone in our community safe."

Facebook had previously led the public to believe such rules were merely under consideration and not actually being used, though documents seem to show the measures have been in place since 2019. The company did not comment on the discrepancy.