Last Wednesday, Facebook said it had stopped a cluster of hackers associated with the PA’s Preventive Security Service, the internal intelligence unit set up by Yasser Arafat in 1994, that was targeting Palestinians in the occupied territories, including activists, journalists, and people opposed to Fatah’s leadership. According to Facebook’s detailed analysis of the network, the PSS relied on social engineering using “fake and compromised accounts to create fictitious personas posing primarily as young women, and also as supporters of Hamas, Fatah, various military groups, journalists and activists to build trust with people they targeted and trick them into installing malicious software.”

This operation gives us an alarming look into what Palestinian political participation means in the digital age: more surveillance of the Palestinian people, and more control for the factions already in power.

In another report published by Facebook in January on inauthentic coordinated behavior — which it defines as “coordinated efforts to manipulate public debate for a strategic goal where fake accounts are central to the operation” — the social media giant said it had removed over 206 accounts, 78 pages, three groups, and 14 Instagram accounts primarily targeting Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The document didn’t specify the individuals or groups linked to the operation, but the content disseminated was critical of Abbas and supportive of his opponent, the exiled former security minister Mohammad Dahlan, who is based in the United Arab Emirates.