Tech for Palestine

Tech for Palestine
Abbreviation
  • T4P
  • TFP
Formation2024
Key people
Paul Biggar
Websitetechforpalestine.org

Tech for Palestine (T4P) is an organization involving technologists, digital rights organizations, and advocacy groups who engage with issues related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through technology. Activities under this effort include internal organizing by employees in technology companies, public campaigns, and support for Palestinian access to digital tools and infrastructure.[1][2] Tech for Palestine was founded in the wake of the October 7 attacks and the ongoing Gaza war.[1] The group was involved in a coordinated campaign to edit Wikipedia with a pro-Palestinian slant, resulting in the topic ban of eight accounts in January 2025.

Background

Tech for Palestine was founded in January 2024 by Paul Biggar, founder of American software company CircleCI. The initiative was an outgrowth of aims to mobilize members of the global tech community in support of a pro-Palestinian position.[3][4][5] It began following a December 2023 blog post by Biggar titled “I Can't Sleep,” reflecting his view that tech-industry voices, though often socially progressive, were not favorable to Gaza.[6] Biggar was dismissed from the board of his company following the blog post.[6] The group has stated that it emphasizes using technology to “disrupt conventional narratives, capture systems of power, and accelerate pro‑Palestinian organizing and public awareness”.[7]

Other activities

Boycotts

Tech for Palestine launched web tools including GitHub badges and site banners calling for a ceasefire and maintains a database of Israeli companies and venture capital firms.[8][9] The group created "Israeli Tech Alternatives", a website that calls for boycotts of Israeli tech companies.[4] It also partnered with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to create Boycat, an app to let users search if brands are facing a BDS campaign.[10]

T4P incubator

The T4P Incubator provides volunteer time, mentorship, marketing support, and ecosystem connections to over 20 advocacy-focused tech initiatives. Initiatives include Ethics.vc, Find-a-Protest, Apricot, and Pal‑Chat.[11][12]

Wikipedia editing campaign

An October 2024 report by Pirate Wires found that Tech for Palestine was involved in a coordinated campaign to edit over 8,000 articles on Wikipedia.[13] The report alleged that T4P violated Wikipedia policies and guidelines by coordinating through Discord to edit articles related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[14] A channel on the T4P Discord called "tfp-wikipedia-collaboration" was created in January 2024. The channel was used to recruit volunteers and provide training and troubleshooting to make Wikipedia edits with a pro-Palestinian bias. The channel was also used in canvassing for Wikipedia discussions related to the conflict.[15]

In January 2025, the Wikipedia Arbitration Committee banned several accounts from editing on Israel and Palestine related subjects and outright banned several accounts.[13] Eight pro-Palestine accounts and two pro-Israel accounts were topic banned.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Davis, Dominic-Madori (January 2, 2024). "Tech for Palestine launches to provide tools to help support Palestinians". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  2. ^ "'Tech for Palestine' initiative launched to support Palestinians". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. January 4, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
  3. ^ "Meta's staunch support for Israel shines through amid Gaza genocide". Tehran Times. August 26, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Tech for Palestine Coalition Launched To Support Palestine". Inc. Arabia. January 4, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  5. ^ "Tech for Palestine: New group to help workers speak on Gaza". The New Arab. January 5, 2024. Archived from the original on May 27, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Pratt, Timothy (December 3, 2024). "'Progressive except for Palestine': how a tech charity imploded over a statement on Gaza". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  7. ^ Ansari, Tasmia (January 31, 2024). "Paul Biggar Breaks Silence on Big Tech's Palestine Stance". Analytics India Magazine. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  8. ^ Shah, Hassan (January 3, 2024). "Tech For Palestine Launches and Unveils Several Tools for Palestinian Solidarity". Muslim Tech Wire. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  9. ^ ""Tech for Palestine": 40 Technologists band together to support besieged Palestine". The Hindu. January 3, 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  10. ^ Owens, Jasmine (December 27, 2024). "Palestine boycott list". Ethical Consumer. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  11. ^ Bhuiyan, Johana (January 2, 2025). "Halal tech: how Muslim-friendly websites and apps blossomed in 2024". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  12. ^ Hussain, Shaik Zakeer (October 7, 2024). "Tech for Palestine Launches Incubator for Pro-Palestinian Tech Initiatives". Barakah Insider. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  13. ^ a b c Merlin, Ohad (December 12, 2024). "Pro-Palestine edits trigger Wikipedia action". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
  14. ^ Rindsberg, Ashley (October 24, 2024). "How Wikipedia's Pro-Hamas Editors Hijacked the Israel-Palestine Narrative". Pirate Wires. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
  15. ^ Perdomo, Williams (October 25, 2024). "At least 40 pro-Hamas Wikipedia editors misrepresented information about Israel". VOZ. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
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