Watermelons and the watermelon “emoji” have widely been used in Gaza protests, because its green, red, white and black colours are similar to those of the Palestinian flag. Wired reported Meta ultimately allowed the sale of cupcakes with the same colours as a fruit – but that these “didn’t look much like watermelon”.
The episode comes amid mounting discontent among Muslim workers at technology companies at what they regard as bias and censorship.
Technology giants have faced internal protests, with activists accusing the companies of support for Israel. Executives, meanwhile, have taken an increasingly firm stance over the direct action, with dozens of workers across the sector sacked for causing disruption in the workplace.
In June, Meta effectively barred staff from debating the war, which has left more than 38,000 Palestinians and more than 1,500 Israelis dead since October.
Maxine Williams, Meta’s diversity chief wrote to staff, saying the company had “decided to limit discussions around topics that have historically led to disruptions in the workplace, regardless of the importance of those topics – this includes content related to war and statehood”.
She added: “Some topics, simply put, are off limits.” Wired first reported the new policy.
On Instagram, Ms Akhter wrote: “Are my cupcakes really going to ‘cause disruptions that diminish productivity’?
“What I do know is that this censorship – and the incessant censorship targeting posts and comments from employee resource groups of marginalised communities such as Muslim and Palestinian – has caused far more disruptions and emotional distress to me and my colleagues.”
Ms Akhter and Meta were contacted for comment.