The Dark Side of Facebook: When Free Speech Is a Threat to Power

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta silences journalists, protecting powerful interests while stifling free speech. In doing so, they perpetuate violence and erode the foundations of democracy.

I’ve been a journalist for nearly two decades, covering conflicts, displacement, and human suffering in some of the most dangerous corners of the world. I’ve seen entire cities turned to dust, families torn apart, and children buried beneath the rubble of wars they never chose. It’s my job to bear witness, to document the atrocities that governments and military regimes would rather keep hidden. But in the age of social media, a time when we’re supposed to be more connected and informed than ever, something far more insidious is happening: the gatekeepers of the digital world are silencing those of us who dare to speak the truth.

On October 7, 2024, I posted an article on Facebook reflecting on the year that had passed since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and the subsequent Israeli military bombardment of Gaza. The piece, titled "One Year of Unrelenting Grief," was an attempt to make sense of the devastating cycle of violence that has claimed over 41,800 lives on both sides of the c…