Thus, for example, as the Respondents present it in their preliminary response, the
community standards of the Facebook social network establish that a user cannot use the end-user
services for a purpose “that is unlawful, misleading, discriminatory or fraudulent”. The said
company also has the power to deny or restrict access to content that constitutes a violation of the
rules. In addition, the community standards of that company-operator establish various restrictions
on content published on Facebook, and in regard to activity on that platform, inter alia, provisions
in regard to publications that will not be permitted. Thus, for example, they establish a prohibition
upon publishing threats that are likely to lead to “high-severity” violence, and declarations of
intentions to commit violent acts.
These rules generally create a “Notice and Take Down” mechanism (and see: EA 8/21
Shachar Ben Meir, Adv., v. Likud [1], para. 86 (Feb. 27, 2019); and compare: EA 27/21 Yisrael
Beiteinu Faction v. Shamir Systems and Operators Ltd. [2], paras 28-29 (Feb. 26, 2019)). By virtue
of this mechanism, if the network platform operators receive notice of an alleged violation, they
decide whether to leave the publication or remove it. Of late, it is possible to challenge a “take
down decision”, at least on Facebook, before a kind of “appeals committee” that has the authority
to conclusively decide upon complaints concerning decisions to remove contents from the
platform. In early 2020, the board of directors published the said appeals committees, and the rules
and procedures that govern such “appeals” (see: OVERSIGHT BOARD BYLAWS (2021); and see:
Evelyn Douek, What Kind of Oversight Board Have You Given Us?, U. CHICAGO L. REV. ONLINE
1 (2020)).
9.
The Cyber Department thus operates on the above track of a “notice and take down
mechanism”. In the context of the matter before us, this is carried out in a manner agreed upon
between the Department and the relevant internet platform operators, according to which, when
the Department takes notice of information concerning a publication that, prima facie, violates
Israeli law (whether included in the Prevention of Crimes Law, or not included in that Law), the
staff of the Department refers the matter to the attention of the internet platform operators, by
means of a structured mechanism for reporting harmful publications, that a prima facie offense is
being committed on the infrastructure that it operates. The internet platform operators, in turn,
address the report and decide, at their independent discretion, how to act and what to do in regard
to the said report – whether to restrict access to that publication, remove it, block the user who
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