Different civil and human rights groups in Palestine have called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to reverse its decision to block websites and pages.

This came during a news conference held Tuesday in Ramallah in cooperation with Watan TV by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms – Mada, the Independent Commission for Human Rights, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council, the Palestinian NGOs Network, and the National Commission for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law – Istiqlal.
 
The participants stressed the need for the PA and its magistrate court in Ramallah to revoke the decision to block dozens of websites and pages, describing the step as a serious violation of the freedoms of the press and expression.

Mousa al-Rimawi, director of Mada, said the PA’s decision was taken during the campaign that was recently launched by Mada to defend and raise awareness about digital rights.

Rimawi also pointed out that the PA’s step dealt a blow to the efforts being made by civil society groups to confront Facebook’s systematic closure of Palestinian media pages and removal of Palestinian content.

He said that the PA’s decision in this regard was the second of its kind in two years, noting that there was a similar decision in 2017 that targeted 29 Palestinian websites.

He called for immediately backtracking on such decision, which he said violated the Palestinian basic law and all the international conventions and treaties signed by the PA.