Israel lobby piles pressure on Twitter, Facebook to ban Press TV

Social media groups Facebook and Twitter have come under pressure from pro-Israel lobby groups to remove accounts of Iran's leading broadcaster Press TV from their platforms. 

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCHD) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have demanded that Press TV be blocked for publishing content in Britain, The Telegraph reported Thursday.

ADL chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt said it was “inexcusable” to offer Press TV a platform.

“We urge Meta [the owner of Facebook] and Twitter to immediately launch an investigation and to take action to prevent Press TV and the Iranian other media outlets from misusing these social platforms.”

“Facebook and Twitter profit by providing Iranian state propagandists with the reach and amplification they need to evade domestic broadcast bans, and influence millions of new viewers in the West,” Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the CCHD, said.

Their concern is particularly focused around Press TV’s "Palestine Declassified" program, formerly hosted by former UK MP Chris Williamson and former Bristol University professor David Miller.

Williamson was suspended from the Labour Party after dismissing concerns about anti-Semitism in the party as “smears” and “bulls---.” And Miller was dismissed from Bristol University after he revealed Jewish students critical of his views were “directed by Israel.”

The  groups cite an episode of the Press TV program devoted to unpacking the “witch hunt” in Labour and the way the party was “captured by key Israel lobby groups.”

Another episode dealt with a network of “Zionist” individuals and organizations which exerted a disproportionate influence over global affairs, including the West’s intervention in the Ukraine war and a “campaign to improve King Charles III’s image in the UK Muslim community.”

The groups are rattled by videos on Press TV's program that exposes Jewish influence over global affairs and the entertainment industry.

In July 2013, Press TV was forced off the air in the UK after the media regulator Ofcom revoked its license for allegedly breaching the Communications Act.

In the same year, it was taken off the air in North America after the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

Press TV was dropped from the Galaxy 19 satellite platform that allowed it to broadcast in the United States and Canada, without saying when it was dropped.

The network has denounced the measures as “media terrorism.”

The broadcaster has a large number of viewers across Western countries and a considerable number of followers on social media.

In December 2022, Firas al-Najim, a Canadian human rights advocate, said Press TV is the voice of the oppressed, a news network working to expose the crimes and double standards of the West against free nations.

Weeks after the European Union imposed sanctions on the leading broadcaster, French satellite operator Eutelsat notified Press TV of its plan to take the network off the air. Najim said then that the move unmasked the conspiracy of the Western governments.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir