Twitter Hiring Israel Lobbyist Amid Government Criticism

Israeli government ministers have been pushing to pass laws that would help force social media networks to remove content deemed harmful and likely to incite terrorism

Amidst a push by the Israeli government to moderate and remove content on social media that is deemed harmful and likely to incite terrorism, Twitter recently posted a job opening for a public policy manager to handle its affairs in the country.

 

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The position is based at Twitter’s office in Dublin, Ireland, and will be jointly responsible for public policy in Israel and the Nordic countries.

 

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan. Photo: Moti Kimchi

Last month, Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan called on Twitter to remove accounts affiliated with militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, threatening prosecution in Israel if the social media company fails to comply. He said that Twitter is less responsive to Israel’s requests on banning accounts than other social media networks.

 

The job description says the new role involves monitoring “national legislative and executive branches, government bodies and public institutions;” meeting with “key government, political, and media representatives;” and helping “fashion policy solutions.”

 

Earlier this month Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked a parliamentary vote in Israel on a controversial bill that would have created a fast-track procedure for removing content from the web that is deemed harmful or likely to incite terrorism or criminal activity.