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
The phrase called: "From the river to the sea..." is a political phrase that refers geographically to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, an area historically called Palestine, which today includes Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
They are calling it to be free from jews means killing all the jews so the false nationalism called Palestinians will live in the state of the Jews which has given to the Jews by GOD.
I hope Meta will accept the truth with many nations will acknowledge that the state of Israel is the state of GOD and he decided to give it to his chosen people this land. The Palestinians has no history in this land and they are calling to wipe out all the Jews with this political phrase.
Long live forever! GOD with Us! Accept the truth! If you accept the lies you will face many troubles because you deny GOD and his word.
The phrase 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' calls for the complete annihilation of Israel which is exactly what Hamas (and the Iranian regime) wants, they have clearly said it many times. It is entirely possible that many people using this chant on social media or in protests don't fully understand it's meaning, but they should be informed. There are many things that one could reasonably criticise about the current Israeli government but calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world's only Jewish state, a tiny country about the size of Wales, where half the world's Jewish population live, IS antisemitic and should not be allowed on any social media platform.
Palestine is geographically between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean sea and therefore should not be removed from Facebook as it is a fact.
This phrase is calling for the creation of a new Palestinian state in place of the existing state of Israel, that means the genocide of all Israelis (of all denominations).
The blatant antisemitism that has been left unchecked on Meta websites including Facebook and Instagram has been absolutely horrific. Please consider taking steps to keep Jewish users safe from hatred and violence. While I wholly support upholding free speech, it is simultaneously true that there needs to be consequences when free speech becomes hate speech, and when it goes on to incite violence, especially against minorities. I find that myself and my fellow Jews are feeling increasingly alienated and at risk, and there simply aren’t tools on your websites that are effective for keeping us safe.
I hope that you will take this into account moving forward! Thank you for your time.
It’s time to stop all this hate all across the world!
Enough being antisemitic, that including Arabs people no matter where you are!
Israel has done nothing bad to you.
Israel is multi culture multi languages and welcoming people no matter what you are and where you’re from.
Check our history and stop say a trend slogan it’s only hurts people.
From the river to the sea implies removal of all non Arabs from Palestine. In Israel Jews and Arabs live together in coexistence. Where are the Jews meant to go ? That’s what the Germans did during WW2. First they removed all Jews from Germany. The final solution came a little later. With antisemitism rising everywhere it’s your responsibility to minimise spread of hate with slogans that people latch on to without understanding the mean , which river and which sea. Don’t let your platform be a tool to spread antisemitism. We say never again will humanity fail , but we are failing. Fake news becoming reality, and truth is irrelevant. Please act responsibly
Anything said or done against Israel in these days is blatant anti-semitism? It's the New World Order taking shape!
Such post must be forbidden. It implies genocide. Most of the shouters have no clue about what river and what sea. It encourages terror and if not shut down when it is still small it will blow up in our face with massive terror.
It is unequivocally a hate slogan that calls for the murder of Jews. It is hateful and it is threatening. They chant these slogans to intimidate and harass Jews.
Meta has failed Jews repeatedly. Antisemitism is rampantly spreading and Meta is complicit.
Everyone should be free. In order to co-exist, we have to come to the same table. Not call for a genocide. I live here with my family and my little boy, why would anyone want to call for our death?
מדינת ישראל קמה בהחלטת האומות המאוחדות במטרה לשמש בית לעם היהודי שנרדף. רצח העם היהודי על ידי הנאצים הביא להחלטה.
פלסטינה מעולם לא היתה מדינה.
אמא ואבא שלי, שניהם יהודים פלסטינאים, נולדו באזור גיאוגרפי שנקרא פלסטינה.
עכשיו, אנשים שהגיעו לפלסטינה שנשלטה על ידי טורקים ואחר כך אנגלים, רוצים לגרש אותנו היהודים ולהרוס את מדינת ישראל, הבית שלנו.
זו המשמעות של הביטוי מהנהר עד הירדן.
כלומר: הם רוצים להקים מדינה שמעולם לא היתה קיימת, על אותה אדמה בה קיימת מדינת היהודים.
הביטוי מהנהר עד הירדן הוא ביטוי שהרעיון מאחוריו הוא אלים, כוחני, אימפריאליסטי, גזעני.
בעוד אנשים כמוני מאמינים בתפרון שתי מדינות, צעקני מהנהר עד הירדן רוצים השמדה של מדינת ישראל.
מקווה שפייסבוק תבין שאין לכך מקום בשיח.
תודה רבה
I think lack of knowldge and radical islam caused this message to be spread out and basically calls for the destroy of the state if Israel.
Only dimwitted ignorant people would not recognize that the statement "from the river to the sea" to be genocidal in nature. As the board of META is far from being ignorant, allowing such a statement on the website can only be interpreted in one way: AGREEMENT WITH GENOCIDE. Hitler considered any German Christians whose even ONE great-grandparent was Jewish, to be Jewish - regardless of actually practicing Judaism - and placed for inhalation in the concentration/death camps. By this Logic Mark Zuckerberg, practicing or not, is a JEW! Hence, this genocide will apply to him and any one with a Jewish ancestry in his organization. Allowing this rhetoric on META is advocating for your own inhalation.
From the river to the sea means that Israel will no longer exist. The jews will not have a country. It means that there will be an ethnic cleaning- a massacure on the jews
The statement, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," should be considered unacceptable hate speech by the Facebook/Meta Oversight Board because it is commonly used as a mantra by those who seek to eliminate the Jewish state of Israel by inciting violence, harassment and invidious discrimination against Israel, Jewish organizations, and Jewish individuals.
“From The River To The Sea” means death to Israel and to the Jewish people, because that’s the country which lies between Jordan river and Mediterranean Sea and that’s the only Jewish country in the world.
Israel was established on the holy land for the Jewish people since the biblical times, after Nazi Germany tried to exterminate all the Jewish people in most brutal ways in Europe, killing 6 million of them in the 1940s. Using this phrase is antisemitic! It is a call to destroy a sovereign country, Israel, and is a genocidal call to exterminate all Jewish people!
בין הנהר לים, כלומר בין נהר הירדן לחוף הים התיכון, שוכן מרחב אקולוגי אחד אותו ניסו לחלק לשתי מדינות בתכנית החלוקה בשנת 1947-1948, תכנית אותה היהודים קבלו והערבים דחו באופן מוחלט ושתשובתם היתה מתקפה משולבת צבאית להשמדת הישוב היהודי, אשר להגנתו, התארגן כמדינה היא מדינת ישראל, בנה את צבאו, הוא צבא הגנה לישראל. ומאז היהודים ממשיכים להצהיר ולממש את רצונם למדינה יהודית עצמאית ולו על חלק מהארץ ואילו הערבים צועקים "ליהודים לא .תהיה מדינה" זה כל רצונם
from the river to the sea Israel is what you see.
https://apnews.com/fdab83939bbc4c4a9f76bb0d5b71926d