Epartheid: (noun) A system of digital segregation and symbolic suppression wherein access to speech, visibility, and participation is algorithmically determined and hierarchically enforced, often along geopolitical, cultural, racial, or ideological lines.
Content from marginalized or targeted communities—especially those critical of Western power structures—is deprioritized, shadowbanned, or deleted altogether. Meanwhile, "approved" narratives are fast-tracked into visibility.
Global populations are subjected to rules created in Silicon Valley, where profit, liability, and political optics outweigh cultural or historical context. The platforms act like digital embassies of empire—imposing law without representation.
Flags, slogans, chants, and even colors (like the keffiyeh or the Palestinian flag) are algorithmically linked to "risk" or "extremism," while occupying forces’ symbols are rendered as statecraft. The imbalance isn’t just political—it’s semantic.
Everyone is technically allowed online—but not equally heard, seen, or represented. Like apartheid regimes of the past, access exists without equity.
Certain words are instantly flagged as "incendiary" or "misinformation," depending on who is saying them. The same critique uttered by a Western journalist is "analysis"; said by a Gazan, it’s "incitement."