Knesset advances bill censoring ‘criminal’ social media posts

Lawmakers on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would allow Israeli authorities to remove certain posts supporting illegal activities from social media sites, angering right-wing opposition parties who claimed it would be used to censor them.

The bill — which passed 58 to 46 — must still go through three more plenary votes and committee markup.

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

The bill’s explanatory text lists sexual offenses in online postings, posts infringing one’s privacy, and posts that could harm one’s dignity, as examples of criminal content shared on social media.