The Israel Olympic Committee sent a letter of protest to Facebook after receiving complaints that Israel was placed last in an alphabetical listing of countries and groups competing in the Rio Olympics.
A feature called Profile Frames, which allows users to add a national flag and the Rio 2016 logo to their profile picture, lists 206 countries and groups, such as refugees, competing in the Rio Games.
Israel and its flag did not appear on the list in its alphabetical place but at the end, after Zimbabwe, and featured the flag of the Israeli Olympic Committee.
#Facebook omits #Israeli flag from 2016 Rio #Olympics page – #Israel News https://t.co/3OODdTCeqv pic.twitter.com/yIYulqnSOf
— Israel Trending News (@Israelolizer) August 5, 2016
Committee spokeswoman Bruria Bigman told Haaretz that the panel began getting complaints from surfers about the absence of Israel’s flag, which Facebook corrected.
In the 2012 Olympics Games, the BBC listed Israel with no capital, while listing East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. After the Prime Minister’s Office launched a campaign demanding a correction, BBC updated their site listing Israel with Jerusalem as its capital.
(PC, Haaretz, JPost)
