Al Jazeera denounces YouTube’s submission to the ban of its broadcast in Israel, calls for adherence to international conventions

Doha, Qatar: Al Jazeera Media Network strongly denounces YouTube s submission to the Israeli authorities decision to ban the broadcast of its channel...

Doha, Qatar: Al Jazeera Media Network strongly denounces YouTube’s submission to the Israeli authorities’ decision to ban the broadcast of its channels on the platform and the blocking of its websites in Israel.

The Network emphasises that this measure represents a flagrant violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to seek, receive, and impart information freely.

The Network expresses its deep concern over YouTube's response to these censorial dictates, which constitutes a failure to adhere to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Such principles mandate that global tech companies ensure freedom of expression and resist government pressures that lead to the withholding of the truth and the silencing of independent journalism.

The banning of Al Jazeera’s digital platforms and websites on weak security grounds sends a dangerous signal that major technology companies can be co-opted as instruments of regimes hostile to freedom.

This further entrenches a policy of double standards in the management of digital content in conflict zones and weakens the governance of the global public sphere. The Network stresses that this escalation is part of a broader and systematic pattern of Israeli violations, including the killing and detention of its journalists and the closure of its offices in the occupied territories, aimed at suppressing the truth.