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Podcast: Fady Khoury and Rabea Eghbariah on Israel’s ‘Cyber Unit’

A panel of judges of the Israeli Supreme Court wear face masks as they address a discussion on a petition asking whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can form a government legally and publicly when indictments are filed against him on a charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust, at the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem May 4, 2020. Abir Sultan/Pool via REUTERS

On this week’s edition of Arbiters of Truth, Lawfare‘s podcast miniseries on our online information ecosystem, Evelyn Douek and Quinta Jurecic interview Fady Khoury and Rabea Eghbariah, two lawyers involved in the legal challenge of Israel’s so-called “Cyber Unit.” That governmental body actively engages with online platforms and requests content be taken down. Such bodies, known as “internet referral units,” are spreading around the world, pose novel challenges to free speech, and represent a key tool in attempts by governments to assert greater authority over online speech.