Instagram has removed an account called the “Jew Hate Database” which was posting the full names, social media profiles, employers, and photos of people the account operators believe are antisemitic. In many cases, the Instagram account included videos of those people tearing down posters spread across cities that show victims kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. Instagram said it removed the account for violating Meta's policies on hate speech.
The removal highlights the constant tension social media companies find themselves in with the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Hamas, for example, has used victims’ Facebook accounts to livestream further violence. Instagram’s auto-translation feature added the word “terrorist” to bios that had “Palestinian” in them. In this case, Instagram was used as a platform to unmask specific people that tore down posters of kidnapped Israelis, and that the account claimed were antisemitic.