The Independent Commission for Human Rights - ICHR 39 ment imported by Palestinian corporations on ports and crossing points for a long time. Debilitating the efficiency of this equipment, technologies become outdated. In addition, the Israeli occupying authorities levy ground handling charges on Palestinian telecom companies while equipment is withheld. • Israel prevents direct connections with telecom networks of neighbouring Arab countries, including Jordan and Egypt. • Israel overcharges Palestinian companies for developing telecom infrastructure in Area C of the oPt. • Israeli telecom companies illegally penetrate the Palestinian market and engage in unfair competition with Palestinian licensed companies. Under the pretext of reaching settlement blocs, Israeli corporations are given a franchise right to provide all telecom services throughout the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem. These operators have constructed and installed hundreds of telecom towers across the oPt, including on illegal military bases and settlements. According to World Bank reports, Israeli companies have taken over 33 percent of the Palestinian telecom market. • Israel dominates the Palestinian cyberspace and controls and manipulates frequencies. Despite the fact that it is a national wealth of the Palestinian people, Israeli limits the electromagnetic spectrum and does not allow higher generation frequencies in the Palestinian territory, further restricting 3G frequencies. More importantly, while the Gaza Strip has no access to the 3G service, Palestine is deprived of its right to 4G and 5G frequencies. • Palestinian companies are deprived of constructing their own infrastructure and providing telecom services in Area C. Restrictions are placed on the installation of telecom networks and relay stations, which require often stalled Israeli approvals. At the same time, Israeli corporations are promoted and granted licence at no effort. The Israeli Bezeq telecom company received a licence and financial support to expand its ground-based communications network across Area C. • The IOF directly attack, destroy, and seize the equipment of and closed down some radio and television stations. • Israel places pressure on global social media networks to remove Palestinian content. Several social media platforms have developed relevant algorithms to cover new violations of Palestinian digital rights, including words closely related to the question of Palestine and Palestinian rights which do not match the Israeli narrative. By 95 percent, these platforms respond favourably to applications submitted by the Israeli government to remove Palestinian content. Categorised as “incitement to violence”, some 30,000 Palestinian posts have been removed on Facebook, Google, Twitter, and YouTube. On the other hand, Israeli inflammatory posts against Arabs and Palestinians are published almost every minute, but are never removed. Consequently, Palestinian content is targeted on a systematic, rather than on a haphazard, basis. In May 2021, 700 violations were documented. The mere fact that the name “Palestine” was mentioned was sufficient to limit public views of the content posted by users, including influencers. This has deprived Palestinians of their right to freedom of opinion and expression in the digital space. 1.1.11 Transportation In addition to thousands of flying checkpoints, the IOF set up 600 permanent checkpoints on the West Bank roads, hindering Palestinian access, who often had to take long detour roads. Continued closure, restrictions ongoing obstruction of the movement of Palestinian persons and goods by the Separation Wall, lockdown on Jerusalem, and military checkpoints have resulted in longer distances, more energy consumption, increased travel cost, and further traffic congestion. Not to mention delays, this has been a waste of time and money, particularly in city centres, suburbs, and regional Twenty Seventh Annual Report 2021