Israel Health Ministry blocks dissenting citizens on Twitter; Legal experts: 'Definitely illegal'

The Israeli Health Ministry yesterday blocked scores of Twitter accounts belonging to Israeli citizens critical of Ministry vaccine policy, especially regarding vaccines for 12-15-year-olds.The purge was apparently done in coordination with a recent public thread that included tagging a “list” that was recommended to be blocked "as an act of herd immunity” against those critical of the new policy.Children's medical rights advocate Dr. Avshalom Carmel wrote: "The Ministry of Health is blocking citizens who criticize it? That's called McCarthyism, isn't it? Is it Coronafascism, or just the misuse of high-tech knowledge by an unknown programmer?"[embed]https://twitter.com/nir_/status/1408130658258587655[/embed]Legal experts in Israel called the Health Ministry move "definitely illegal," explaining that the State Comptroller in 2016 ruled that social media blocking by elected officials infringes on freedom of expression and is prohibited. There have also been administrative petitions in the past, resulting in decisions affirming that a government ministry is prohibited from depriving a person of access to information and participation in discourse.A morning show in Israel said they would "look into the matter".The Israeli Health Ministry did not immediately respond to an America's Frontline Doctors request for clarification.[embed]https://twitter.com/spumoni420/status/1409035890832379905[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/efenigson/status/1408746899990003712[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/ghffhhjjjfdd/status/1409093337274007557[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/Jehogarbatz/status/1409090332415909888[/embed]