Dhaka:The National Human Rights Commission has strongly condemned the actions of Facebook and X for banning and closing numerous Yemeni pages and accounts. These accounts belong to media institutions, journalists, and human rights figures opposed to the Saudi aggression in Yemen.
According to Yemen News Agency, the Commission's statement highlighted a perceived philosophical contradiction in the concept of freedom of expression promoted by Western digital platforms. It argued that these platforms are not impartial public spaces but act as tools serving specific narratives, particularly the American-Zionist-Saudi perspective, by silencing Yemeni voices.
The statement further criticized the platforms' actions as attempts to erase truth and awareness rather than just deleting posts or banning accounts. It emphasized that the resilience of the Yemeni people, who have endured bombardment, would not be defeated by digital silencing. The Commission argued that attempts to suppress Yemeni voices coincide with Saudi military escalations in regions such as Taiz, Nahm, Saada, Sanaa, and Ibb, indicating a broader conflict involving both physical and narrative warfare.
The Commission asserted that this digital campaign against Yemeni voices violates Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which ensure the right to seek, receive, and impart information. It described the bans as a form of digital discrimination, characterized by double standards that allow for war propaganda while silencing Yemeni self-defense narratives.
Furthermore, the Commission called on the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression to condemn these actions, labeling them as technical complicity in war crimes. It urged Yemeni media professionals and human rights activists to adopt a decentralized media strategy, independent of politicized platforms, and emphasized that in times of aggression, free expression is a form of resistance.
