Meta faces lawsuit over employee dismissal regarding Gaza posts

CAIRO - 5 June 2024: Firas Hamad, a former engineer at Meta Platforms, accuses the company of bias in its approach to Gaza conflict-related content. He claims in a lawsuit that he was terminated for attempting to rectify errors that led to the blocking of Palestinian posts on Instagram.

Hamad, a Palestinian-American engineer who was part of Meta's machine learning team since 2021, filed a lawsuit against the social media giant in a California court. He alleges discrimination, unlawful termination, and other violations for his dismissal in February.

Hamad accuses Meta of exhibiting bias against Palestinians, stating that the company deleted internal employee communications discussing the deaths of their relatives in Gaza. Allegedly, Meta also investigated employees for using symbolic Palestinian flag imagery.

The lawsuit claims that Meta did not conduct similar investigations into employees who posted symbolic Israeli or Ukrainian flag imagery in similar contexts, suggesting double standards.

These allegations echo long-standing criticisms from human rights groups about Meta's oversight of content posted on its platforms regarding Israel and the Palestinian territories. These concerns were highlighted in an external investigation commissioned by the company in 2021.

The conflict in Gaza erupted after Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, leading to approximately 1,200 casualties and over 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics. In retaliation, Israel launched an offensive on Gaza, resulting in over 36,000 deaths, according to Gaza health officials, and sparking a humanitarian crisis.

Since the outbreak of the war last year, the company has faced accusations of suppressing expressions of support for Palestinians living amidst the conflict.

Around 200 Meta employees expressed similar concerns in an open letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders earlier this year.

Hamad claims his dismissal is seemingly related to an incident in December involving an emergency measure designed to address serious issues on the company's platforms. He alleges procedural violations related to restrictions on content published by Palestinian figures on Instagram, which were blocked from search and feeds.

Hamad alleges receiving conflicting directives from other employees regarding such issues and whether he was authorized to assist in resolving them, despite having addressed similar sensitive issues before, including those related to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine. He claims his manager later confirmed in writing that resolving such issues was part of his job.

The following month, after being informed by a Meta representative that he was under investigation, Hamad filed an internal discrimination complaint days before his dismissal. Meta reportedly informed him that he was terminated for violating a policy prohibiting employees from working on issues related to accounts of people they personally know, referring to journalist photographer Azaizeh. Hamad claims he has no personal connection to Azaizeh.