"Digital Justice in Wartime". Content Strategy and Advocacy in the Coded Scenario

Citizens turn to social media to seek unfiltered analysis, real-time information, and diverse media, but content moderation is led by private policies and AI systems, a reproductive instrument of social reality, incapable of self-correction and inaccurate assessment delivery. The Israeli-Palestinian case has provided valuable insights to describe the tension between managing complexity and upholding free speech in wartime. Since October 2023, accounts expressing solidarity with Palestinians reported experiencing shadowban. Users attempted linguistic manipulations and creative tactics to elude automated systems detection and defend online alternative voices. Despite lower reach capacity, bottom up recommendations challenged machine learning recognition. Digital corporations remove illegal content under the Terrorist Content Online (TCO) Regulation, or risk facing severe legal penalties, while the Oversight Board opened public consultations about contents. The research undertakes a critical discourse analysis through relevant decisions, policies and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) statements across Meta, X and Bytedance platforms.