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House Republican Israel Caucus urges Twitter to ban Hamas

Hamas uses Twitter “to advance their hateful ideology and propaganda,” say Republican members of Congress.

By World Israel News Staff

The House Republican Israel Caucus has written a letter to Twitter, calling on the social media platform to ban “senior Hamas officials and associates who use the platform to radicalize individuals to incite violence against Israelis,” said Rep. Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) in a statement.

In its letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the caucus notes that Hamas is a designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

The Caucus is chaired by Zeldin, as well as Doug Lamborn (R, CO-5) and Joe Wilson (R, SC-2). In all, the letter is signed by 16 members of Congress.

It says that Hamas uses Twitter “to advance their hateful ideology and propaganda,” adding that “last month, Hamas fired approximately 700 rockets into Israel killing innocent victims. It is imperative that Twitter, a United States Company, bans designated FTOs, removing all content promoting terrorist activity.”

The letter also says that “Congress has already determined that providing material support, resources, and intangible assistance to an FTO is a federal crime.” The caucus noted that the Supreme Court upheld the federal law “prohibiting individuals and groups from providing material support to FTOs,” determining that the law “does not violate the First Amendment.”

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The congressional group acknowledges that “over the past several years, Twitter has made some progress by removing terrorist content from groups such as ISIS and Hezbollah,” but adds that “more needs to be done to eradicate the spread of all terrorist activity by designated FTOs.”

In conclusion, the pro-Israel Republicans write: “We hope Twitter will take action without the need for additional Congressional oversight and legislative action.”