This groundbreaking book documents how digital platforms and technology companies based in the United States support the Israeli settler-colonial project, illuminating how these platforms have become new tools of anti-Palestinian suppression, despite having been initially instrumental in advancing the Palestinian struggle.
Features an introduction by Steven Salaita, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the American University in Cairo.
Terms of Servitude is a joint production of the Censored Press and Seven Stories Press
Despite their alleged support of free speech and democratic values, tech titans like Meta, Google, and X have become conduits for the promotion of the Zionist colonial project. In Terms of Servitude, Professor Omar Zahzah demonstrates how these digital giants participate in anti-Palestinian oppression through censorship justified by so-called "terms of service" or "community standards." As Al technology and metadata are wielded as tools of suppression, anti-colonial counter-narratives across online platforms become increasingly urgent. Through careful analysis and documentation, Zahzah explores what resistance can and must mean in light of the consolidation of Big Tech with Israeli settler colonialism and genocide.
Through original analysis and careful documentation, Omar Zahzah, Assistant Professor of Arab, Muslim, Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) Studies at San Francisco State University, traces the timeline from the Sheikh Jarrah uprisings of 2021 to the beginning of October 2023 to the most current developments to explain social media’s role in advancing and suppressing Palestinian narratives.