LONDON: Facebook was slammed on Sunday with a coordinated social media campaign launched by pro-Palestine activists in an attempt to push down the Facebook app’s ranking on Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play.
The campaign was launched in solidarity with Palestinians and in response to Facebook’s censorship of content supporting and promoting Palestine-related news amid the recent violence in Gaza.
Shared on almost all social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, the campaign calls on users to give Facebook a one-star review on the Apple and Google app stores.
Facebook users supporting the campaign have started leaving one-star reviews on the app stores, bringing down Facebook’s rating from more than four stars last week to 1.9 stars and 2.4 stars on the App Store and Google Play Store, respectively.
The tech giant reportedly contacted Apple and Google to request the removal of the negative reviews. So far, Apple has declined and Google has not yet responded to the request.
Many of the one-star reviews feature comments related to Facebook’s censorship of Palestinian-related media and perceived bias toward Israel.
One user said in their review: “I am absolutely shocked and disgusted with Facebook blocking specific posts to suit their agenda. I would give the app zero stars if I could. Facebook has been blocking posts showing the atrocities happening in Palestine at the moment by Israeli soldiers.”
