The Oversight Board for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has concluded that the phrase "From the River to the Sea" is not automatically considered hate speech when used in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reported NBC News. Recommendation gives backing to Meta's policy of allowing use of phrase.
The board's ruling stemmed from three separate cases on Facebook where users included the phrase in their content. In each instance, the post was reported for violating Facebook's hate speech policies, with complainants arguing that the phrase calls for the destruction of Israel. Facebook chose not to remove the posts, a decision that was ultimately upheld by the Oversight Board.
Considering how many, many Jews and Israelis view the phrase 'From the River to the Sea,' it's clear that harm is meant by using it as a slogan.
If you didn't mean harm, you'd use a different phrase.
Meta's Oversight Board got this one very wrong.https://t.co/wkilQU9CTq
— Jeremy Goldman (@jeremarketer) September 4, 2024
"The Board finds there is no indication that the comment or the two posts broke Meta's Hate Speech rules because they do not attack Jewish or Israeli people with calls for violence or exclusion, nor do they attack a concept or institution associated with a protected characteristic that could lead to imminent violence," the board stated in its 32-page decision. "Instead, the three pieces of content contain contextual signals of solidarity with Palestinians."
One of the cases involved a post that garnered approximately 8 million views, depicting the phrase created with floating watermelon slices, a symbol often associated with pro-Palestinian activism. This post alone received 951 reports from 937 users, according to the Oversight Board.
"From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate." pic.twitter.com/2kXWHP1Jbj
— ~Jachnun Supremacist~ נפתלי בן מתתיהו (@JachnunEmpire) December 31, 2023
The phrase "From the River to the Sea" has been a subject of controversy, particularly in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza. While Hamas leadership and some pro-Palestinian activists have used the phrase to advocate for a Palestinian state encompassing the entire region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, others argue that it represents general solidarity or a call to return to pre-1967 borders.
The Oversight Board acknowledged the phrase's multiple interpretations in its ruling. "Because the phrase does not have a single meaning, a blanket ban on content that includes the phrase, a default rule towards removal of such content, or even using it as a signal to trigger enforcement or review, would hinder protected political speech in unacceptable ways," the board concluded.
However, the decision was not unanimous. A minority of the board's 21 members dissented, arguing that following the October 7 attacks, the phrase's use "should be presumed to constitute glorification of" Hamas "unless there are clear signals to the contrary."
Meta, responding to the ruling, stated, "We welcome the board's review of our guidance on this matter. While all of our policies are developed with safety in mind, we know they come with global challenges, and we regularly seek input from experts outside Meta, including the Oversight Board."
The decision comes amid ongoing controversies surrounding Meta's content moderation policies related to the Israel-Hamas war. Human Rights Watch has accused the company of censoring pro-Palestinian voices, while others have claimed that Meta has suppressed pro-Israel content.
The Oversight Board, created by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2019, serves as an independent body to review content moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram. Its rulings are generally binding on Meta-owned platforms.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) has slammed Meta's Oversight Board for its view that the phrase "From the River to the Sea" should not lead to content removal because it does "not break Meta's rules on Hate Speech, Violence and Incitement or Dangerous Organizations and Individuals."
"'From the River to the Sea' is a slogan created with the sole vision of destroying the national homeland of the Jewish people," CEO of CAM Sacha Roytman Dratwa said. "It is genocidal in intent and meaning, and is not a legitimate political or ideological vision, because it targets the one Jewish State and its inhabitants for destruction."
