Sheffi Paz's video reached EU countries — and was then blocked

The provocative AI video published by social activist Sheffi Paz against illegal migrants continues to cause a stir — this time outside of Israel. Paz announced earlier today (Thursday) that she received a notification from the X network stating that following a legal complaint, the video was permanently blocked for viewing in all European Union countries.

The video, which we already reported on in C14, uses artificial intelligence to show illegal migrants in south Tel Aviv being collected from the street by a garbage truck arm, placed inside, and subsequently loaded onto rafts and rubber boats and sent out to sea. At the end, the words "All of them, now" appear. The video sparked sharp criticism online, including from those who clarified that they identify with Paz's struggle against the phenomenon of illegal migration.

"The garbage truck video broke the internet with millions of views," wrote Paz. "This morning I received a notification from X that following a legal complaint, the video was permanently blocked for viewing in all European Union countries."

Paz linked the blocking to her previous confrontations with European Union institutions. "A straight line runs between the Union's demand from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to put me on trial for spraying graffiti in their lobby and the demand from Twitter to shut my mouth," she wrote. She signed off the post with a firm message: "Europe is drowning but we will continue to fight — because the time for deportation has arrived!".

It should be noted that upon a C14 check at the time of the article's publication, it turned out that at least for now, the original video is again available for viewing on the X network. The search result for the original post we reported on earlier this week also still displays the video on the platform. It is unclear at this stage whether this involves the removal of the restriction, a block that applied only to some areas in Europe, or a change in X's enforcement method.

The video was first published on August 8 and garnered significant attention outside of Israel as well. Foreign media outlets and accounts reposted it and reported on the storm surrounding it. Already after its first publication, Paz clarified that she does not retract the message. "The video is supposed to shock," she wrote then, adding that from her perspective, it expresses the reality that residents in south Tel Aviv are dealing with and her demand to remove the illegal migrants from Israel.