Meta Expands Hate Speech Policy to Remove More Posts Targeting 'Zionists'

Palestinians mourn over the bodies of loved ones following Israeli bombardment in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on July 10, 2024. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
Palestinians mourn over the bodies of loved ones following Israeli bombardment in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on July 10, 2024. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
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Meta Expands Hate Speech Policy to Remove More Posts Targeting 'Zionists'

Palestinians mourn over the bodies of loved ones following Israeli bombardment in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on July 10, 2024. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
Palestinians mourn over the bodies of loved ones following Israeli bombardment in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on July 10, 2024. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it would start taking down more posts that target "Zionists", where the term is used to refer to Jewish people and Israelis rather than representing supporters of the political movement.
The Facebook and Instagram parent said in a blog post it would remove content "attacking 'Zionists' when it is not explicitly about the political movement" and uses antisemitic stereotypes or threatens harm through intimidation or violence directed against Jews or Israelis.
Meta's hate speech policy prohibits direct attacks on people on the basis of what it calls protected characteristics, which include race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, disability and gender identity, among others, Reuters reported.
The social media giant said its existing policies, which treat the term "Zionist" as a proxy for Jewish or Israeli people in just two narrow circumstances, did not sufficiently address the ways people use the word more broadly.
The policy update, which follows Meta's consultations with 145 stakeholders representing civil society and academia across global regions, comes as tensions escalate in the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Meta has been criticized for years on how it handles content involving the Middle East, and those criticisms shot up further after the start of the war, with rights groups accusing the company of suppressing content supportive of Palestinians on Facebook and Instagram.



Russian Attack Kills 3 in Ukraine’s City of Dnipro, Governor Says

 A firefighter works at the site of a household item shopping mall which was hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the city of Kamianske, Dnipro region, Ukraine July 26, 2025. (Reuters)
A firefighter works at the site of a household item shopping mall which was hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the city of Kamianske, Dnipro region, Ukraine July 26, 2025. (Reuters)
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Russian Attack Kills 3 in Ukraine’s City of Dnipro, Governor Says

 A firefighter works at the site of a household item shopping mall which was hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the city of Kamianske, Dnipro region, Ukraine July 26, 2025. (Reuters)
A firefighter works at the site of a household item shopping mall which was hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the city of Kamianske, Dnipro region, Ukraine July 26, 2025. (Reuters)

Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles in an overnight attack that killed three people in Ukraine's Dnipro and the nearby region on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

Moscow's troops launched 235 drones and 27 missiles, damaging residential and commercial buildings and causing fires, the Ukrainian Air Force said. It said in a statement that 10 missiles and 25 attack drones hit nine sites. The rest of the drones and missiles were brought down, the Air Force said.

"A terrible night. A massive combined attack on the region," Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said on the Telegram app.

He said three people were killed in the attacks and six others wounded in the city of Dnipro and the nearby region.

Lysak posted pictures showing firefighters battling fires, a residential building with smashed windows, and charred cars.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed retaliatory strikes.

"Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airports should feel that Russia’s own war is now hitting them back with real consequences," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app.

Ukraine's attacks on Russia have heated up in recent months, with Moscow and Kyiv exchanging swarms of drones and fierce fighting raging along more than 1,000 kilometers of the frontline.