Knesset gives initial OK to bill allowing Israel to take down criminal social media content

8 December 2021, 4:08 pm

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This file photo from January 17, 2017, shows a Facebook logo in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

The Knesset plenum approves the preliminary reading of a bill that would allow Israeli authorities to remove certain illegal posts from social media sites including Facebook.

Under the proposal, a judge would be able to issue an order requested by law enforcement bodies requiring a content publisher to remove posts from its website if they are convinced that a criminal offense has been committed through the publication of such content.

The bill, which must pass three further plenary votes, comes as Israeli is weighing measures to rein in global social media companies, including Facebook, and possibly hold them accountable for posts on their platform.