At a small desk in the interrogation room, Youssef sat stupefied as he faced an investigator belonging to Gaza’s internal security apparatus. He was presented with printouts of articles he'd written and published on Facebook criticizing the Hamas movement and its government.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, “Youssef” — a pseudonym — explains how he has been arrested once and summoned for interrogation five times. Each time, the investigator asked him for his Facebook, Twitter and email passwords to read his private messages. They also confiscated Youssef’s mobile phone.

"I was arrested and summoned for interrogation as a result of joining the youth political movement. It seemed that most of the information the investigators had about me was from articles and comments I had published on Facebook," he said.

Youssef is a Palestinian youth who spends long hours on social media as an outlet to connect with a young audience and publish articles refuting the narratives and positions of the Hamas government. He gets reactions and comments from more than 4,000 friends.