Case Description
Due to a technical glitch, our public comments portal for cases related to the "From the River to the Sea" phrase closed earlier than planned. To ensure everyone has a chance to share their input, we've reopened it for 24 hours. The portal will now close at 12pm BST on May 23rd.
These three cases concern content decisions made by Meta, all on Facebook, which the Oversight Board intends to address together.
The three posts were shared by different users in November 2023, following the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7 and the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Each post contains the phrase “From the river to the sea.” All three were reported by users for violating Meta’s Community Standards. The company decided to leave all three posts on Facebook. For each case, the Board will decide whether the content should be removed under Meta’s policies and according to its human rights responsibilities. Numbers of views and reports are correct as of the end of February 2024.
The first case concerns a comment from a Facebook user on another user’s video. The video has a caption encouraging others to “speak up” with numerous hashtags including “#ceasefire” and “#freepalestine.” The comment on the post contains the phrase “FromTheRiverToTheSea” in hashtag form, as well as several additional hashtags including “#DefundIsrael.” The comment had about 3,000 views and was reported seven times by four users. The reports were closed after Meta’s automated systems did not send them for human review within 48 hours.
In the second case, a Facebook user posted what appears to be a generated image of fruit floating on the sea that form the words from the phrase, along with “Palestine will be free.” The post had about 8 million views and was reported 951 times by 937 users. The first report on the post was closed, again because Meta’s automated systems did not send it for human review within 48 hours. Subsequent reports by users were reviewed and assessed as non-violating by human moderators.
In the third case, a Facebook page reshared a post from the page of a community organization in Canada in which a statement from the “founding members” of the organization declared support for “the Palestinian people,” condemning their “senseless slaughter” by the “Zionist State of Israel” and “Zionist Israeli occupiers.” The post ends with the phrase “From The River To The Sea.” This post had less than 1,000 views and was reported by one user. The report was automatically closed.
The Facebook users who reported the content, and subsequently appealed Meta’s decisions to leave up the content to the Board, claimed the phrase was breaking Meta’s rules on Hate Speech, Violence and Incitement or Dangerous Organizations and Individuals. The user who reported the content in the first case stated that the phrase violates Meta’s policies prohibiting content that promotes violence or supports terrorism. The users who reported the content in the second and third cases stated that the phrase constitutes hate speech, is antisemitic and is a call to abolish the state of Israel.
After the Board selected these cases for review, Meta confirmed its original decisions were correct. Meta informed the Board that it analyzed the content under three policies – Violence and Incitement, Hate Speech and Dangerous Organizations and Individuals – and found the posts did not violate any of these policies. Meta explained the company is aware that “From the river to the sea” has a long history and that it had reviewed use of the phrase on its platform after October 7, 2023. After that review, Meta determined that, without additional context, it cannot conclude that “From the river to the sea” constitutes a call to violence or a call for exclusion of any particular group, nor that it is linked exclusively to support for Hamas.
The Board selected these cases to consider how Meta should moderate the use of the phrase given the resurgence in its use after October 7, 2023, and controversies around the phrase’s meaning. On the one hand, the phrase has been used to advocate for the dignity and human rights of Palestinians. On the other hand, it could have antisemitic implications, as claimed by the users who submitted the cases to the Board. This case falls within the Board’s strategic priority of Crisis and Conflict Situations.
The Board would appreciate public comments that address:
- The origin and current uses of the phrase: “From the river to the sea.”
- Research into online trends in content using the phrase.
- Research into any associated online and offline harms from the use of the phrase.
- Meta’s human rights responsibilities in relation to content using the phrase including freedom of expression, freedom of association, and equality and non-discrimination.
- State and institutional (e.g., university) responses to the use of the phrase (e.g., during protests) and the human rights impacts of those responses.
As part of its decisions, the Board can issue policy recommendations to Meta. While recommendations are not binding, Meta must respond to them within 60 days. As such, the Board welcomes public comments proposing recommendations that are relevant to these cases.
Comments
כיהודי והורה לילדים
המשפט הזה מעורר בי בילדי פחד.
איך אנחנו אמורים להרגיש לגבי קריאה לסלק אותנו מארצנו?
למה פייסבוק מנגישה תוכן שמעודד גירוש יהודים מארצם?
ססמאות קליטות עם חרוז נעים בצד אחד של העולם גורם לתחושת אימה בצד השני כאשר מאיימים לסלק לגרש או להרוג יהודים הנמצאים בין הנהר לים.
I live in a small settlement in Israel Just west to the Jordan River and obviously eastern to the Mediterranean Sea.
My settlement not located in west bank and Gaza in an area or in any disputed territory, furthermore, the land that my settlement is located on that is recognized by UN resolution 181 as an Israeli territory, I live between the river and the sea as described earlier.
The phrase from the river to the sea calls for the expulsion (Presumably Violently) Of my family, Friends, job, etc.
As described in UN resolution 181 the land that is recognized to be, Israeli would belong to the Jewish state chanting from the river to the sea. Palestine will be free is undeniably so calling for the eradication of Jews, in the land of Israel, even internationally recognized areas, and then is unequivocally a call for genocide of the Jewish people.
I LOVE how “From Sea to Shining Sea” is absolutely okay to say but “From the River to the Sea” is “anti-Semitic.” I’ve deleted my Facebook permanently and soon my Whatsapp will go, too.
‘From the river to the sea’ is a direct reference for the call for the destruction of the state of Israel & the annihilation of all of her inhabitants.
Of course this is an abhorrent statement & sentiment. It should be deleted from all social media & for those who chant it, & this enable it to be spoken, they must be held accountable for the spread of hatred, antisemitism & rampant racism.
The "From the River to the Sea" expression is a thinly veiled call for the destruction of the state of Israel. It is antisemitic in the sense that it uniquely denies the Jewish People the right to self determination (as proclaimed in the UN charter). It also subverts the internationally recognized "two state solution" - as was decided multiple times by the UN and the UN security council, in various resolutions since 1947 (first one being resolution 181).
The call is basically a call to eradicate the jewish homeland and allow only ethnic Arabs who identify as Palestinians to have a homeland in the area of the historical so-called "holy land" - thereby denying such right from the Israelis.
Because Israel is and has been a fact of reality since 1948, it also - in practical terms - is a call for a war of annihilation which will bring about countless deaths and destruction, of proportions not seen perhaps since the Holocaust.
Hello,
If we assume that as part of the BLM protests there was a slogan that said "From coast to coast the USA will be black". Wouldn't you interpret that to mean that all white people should be kicked out of the USA? Would you even then think, well, it can be interpreted in all kinds of ways?
Are you aware that the area from the river to the sea is exactly the area on which the only Jewish state in the universe sits? If they call to liberate it, the intention is to liberate it and eliminate all the Jews who are there. Do you support this??? Do you legitimize that?
Block this and anything else that can be interpreted as a call to eliminate the only Jewish state that exists and that is fighting a war that it has no possibility of losing. Because a loss in this war means the cessation of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people.
From the river to the sea calls for the destruction of Israel , this is very clear so it’s not clear why this is permitted
Call for ceasefire without returning all the hostages and condemning Hamas for the massacre of babies, women and men doesn’t give the proper context to Israel attacks as self defence, and leads to antisemitism
This term implies the conquer of the state of Israel.
River implies the Jordan river that is in the east of Israel and the sea implies the Mediterranean sea that is in the west of Israel. Therefore, when saying 'from the river to the sea', it means ignoring the life of 9.5 million people in Israel (ignoring simply means eliminating), when 7 million of them are jews.
I believe everyone has the right to live but not by killing an entire population that identifies with a particular religion (jews and Israelis in thia case)
"From the river to the sea" is clearly an empty statement, being generally used by millions that don't understand a thing at the israeli- palastinien conflict. Non of them understands at whitch river or whitch sea is all about. Evacuating israelies from this erea is a statement to kill all of them, with or without understanding they have no other place to go.
“From the River to the Sea” is a call to genocide the Jews and destroy Israel, which is exactly between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean sea. It aims to delegitimize the only Jewish state and to justify attacking innocent Israelis. There is no context in which this phrase could ever be ok on social media. It is used by people who promote Jew hatred and violence against the Jewish people. It is textbook hate speech.
The wording of the phrase "From the river to the sea Palestine will be free" has only one simple meaning - occupation of the land of Israel and deporation of all Jews from it. The river = Jordan River. The sea = The Mediterranean Sea.
Therefore, not only that Palestine is not a recognized country by the UN, the phrase is asking to eliminate another country.
"From the river to the sea" refers to the borders of Palestine from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea. Those encompass the entirety of the state of Israel (and not only the west back and Gaza strip, which are the more globally accepted borders of Palestine). Thus, calling for a Palestine "from the river to the sea". Is calling for a state of Palestine to exist INSTEAD of the state of Israel, and not in addition to it. This call to abolish the entire state of Israel is harmful and threatening towards Israelis, and the people currently living in Israel.
The river and the sea from the phrase are the Jordan River and the Mediterranean sea which are part of the boundries of Israel.
Using this phrase, people wish to exterminate the country of Israel.
This is not a matter of interpretation. In protests and in posts by people who use that phrase you can clearly see a call for destroying the jewish state as long as calls for intifada (=terrorism) and clear antisemetic chants and comments.
It shoud be clear that who ever uses that phrase is seeking suffer for the jewish people more than justice for the palestenians.
Hello, I have survived the 7/10 massacre in Kibbutz Beeri. The call "palestine will be free" is linked to the will and declerations of terror organizations like Hammas who want to "free" the land of Israel (palestine) from the Jews. Meaning, to kill all the jews or deport them and by that, based on reliegion it is antisemitism and terror. If the protestors wanted to free palestine they should have call for elimenate Palestine from hammas and other terror organizations which kill civiliansfor decades.
Free Palestine is meant to be by driving Jews out, not by peace treatments, any other agreement but brutal force, just like Ocrober, 7. We believed growth and economy but Hamas proved they mean murder and rape. From the river to the sea, that most protesters don't even know where is that river and sea - means genocide of Jews, throwing us to the sea is declared openly and after Ocrober, 7 can also be believed. It is a call for Murder.
As a well-educated Jewish woman, I approach this question with a deep understanding of history, culture, and the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Firstly, the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" is deeply troubling and problematic. It carries connotations that are inherently threatening to Jewish people living in the state of Israel. The call for Palestine to be "free" in this context often implies the elimination of Israel and its Jewish population, which is a call for violence and genocide. This interpretation is both dangerous and unacceptable.
Secondly, using such a phrase promotes hate and violence towards Jewish people. It perpetuates harmful stereotypes and fuels antisemitism, which has historically led to discrimination, persecution, and even genocide against Jews. In a world where we strive for understanding, tolerance, and coexistence, promoting such rhetoric only serves to further divide communities and escalate tensions.
Thirdly, it is important to recognize that promoting antisemitism in any form is reprehensible and must be condemned unequivocally. All people, regardless of their religious or ethnic background, deserve to live in peace and security without fear of discrimination or violence.
Fourthly, if we were to hypothetically switch the roles and have Jewish people use a similar phrase towards Arab people, it would be just as unacceptable. Any rhetoric that calls for the elimination or oppression of another group based on their identity is inherently wrong and goes against the principles of equality and human dignity.
Finally, it is crucial to acknowledge that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a deeply complex issue with deep-rooted historical, political, and social dynamics. Painting all Palestinian people as seeking to exist at the expense of Jewish people is overly simplistic and ignores the legitimate aspirations and grievances of both communities. Genuine peace and reconciliation can only be achieved through dialogue, mutual respect, and a commitment to finding equitable solutions that address the needs and rights of all parties involved.
In conclusion, the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" is not only deeply concerning but also dangerous and unacceptable. It promotes violence, hate, and antisemitism, and runs counter to the principles of peace, justice, and coexistence. As we strive for a better future for all peoples in the region, it is imperative that we reject such divisive rhetoric and work towards building bridges of understanding and reconciliation.
היי מה שלומכם?
מרגע התקיפה. האכזרית על ישראל יצאו תומכי טרור בקריאה מהים עד הנהר.
קריאה הקוראת להשמדתנו. אני מבקשת אנא תעצרו את השימוש בביטוי זה ותנו לנו את הביטחון שהעולם עומד לצד היהודים
"From the river to the sea Palestine will be free" suggests the idea of Palestinian state on the whole present territory of Israel without any compromise with it. In other words, person who says "From the river to the sea" calls for destruction of Israel.
Quite simply ‘from the river to the sea’ is a call for the complete annhilation of Israel and all its people. Many who spew this term so widely don’t even know what river or sea they are referring to and what that actually means but it has become so popularized by a violent, vicious and Jew hating mob that it’s become a literal genocidal war cry. Would this be allowed if a group were calling for the destruction of America, Britain or Australia? The pro-Hamas mob is calling for genocide and doing it proudly, teaching their children the chant and manipulating the ignorant left into fighting their battle. This has to be stopped by the media, the politicians and big business or you will be responsible for another holocaust.