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
This sentence is used in mean context t and offending people. U fortunately after brain wash, people say it without even knowing which sea and which river which is showing that it went out of context to become a negative slogan with anti Zionist and antisemitism context. Because if that, I believe it should not be allowed on the media.
The sentence "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" expresses a Palestinian nationalist view that rejects the existence of the State of Israel within any borders and demands the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state in the territory of Mandatory Israel
This phrase actually calls for the destruction of Israel or at least denies its right to exist.
"from the river to the sea" covers the whole of Israel, not just the Gaza strip. It is obvious that the phrase calls for the eradication of the Jewish people from the entire country, which is as exactly what Hate speech is. It is a call not only to free Palestine, but to conquer the entire state of Israel and dispose of those living there.
There is no doubt in my mind that the phrase falls under anti-Semitic and that it should not be allowed for use in a platform that aims to be peaceful and bring people together.
This is discrimination against the freedom of a people .
I'm a former Israeli and currently reside in the US. Ifeel that protests using this are extremely hateful and call for the genocide of Israel, the only democracy in the middle east. One may choose to disagree with Israel but this is a violent, antisemitic and rsscist saying. If you choose to disagree with Israel, it must been done in an intelligent, cultural way AFTER educating yourself on the Israeli-Arab conflict and from verified sources, not the lies of the media. It has to done in a balanced way.
The phrase From the River to the Sea, as part of a slogan ending Palestine will be Free, is historically a call for Palestinians to to be able to move freely in their homeland, without hindrance or threat. Zionists argue it is a call for the destruction of the State of Israel. Yet it is the state of Israel that has waged a campaign of violent, illegal occupation and destruction against Palestine for decades. Coverage of protests in South Africa and elsewhere in which the slogan has been used shows it has never been associated with any antisemitism, in word or action. Israel has killed more than 34000 Palestinians since 7 October 2023 yet the pro-Palestinian posts and protests using the phrase From the river to the sea are all focusing on calling for a ceasefire and an end to the killing, displacement and deliberate starvation of Palestinians. It is a call to liberate Palestinians from ongoing oppression recognised by the world. The phrase is not a threat of violence to anyone and there is no evidence its use on Meta platforms or elsewhere has incited violence. It should not be censored.
This phrase calls for the elimination of Israel and therefore should be prevented from being used.
Posts that include "From the river to the sea" involve the destruction of the State of Israel and the elimination of the only Jewish state on earth. It is an incitement to hatred and extreme violence.
“From the river to the sea” does not necessarily imply that Israel should no longer exist. There is nothing implicitly anti-Semitic in wanting free access for Palestinians from the Jordan River in the West Bank to the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast.
If is all in the choice of interpretation.
A two-state solution to the current crisis should restore access “from the river to the sea” for Palestine.
Every time that I see or hear in videos this phrase, I feel that this is a call to wipe out the state of Israel and kill us all. This comes after the medieval kill that Gaza/HAMAS ISIS did to Israel !!! This satan creatures kidnapped, raped, slottered, burned and humiliated Innocent Israelis.
So it's clear that if Gaza people will get what they want "from the river to the sea" this means I and all my family and friends will be dead!!!!
It's true that this conflict should be solved but not by destroying our Only beautiful, advanced western democracy Jewish state. This state is the only home of the Jews that were almost gone in ww2 by the Nazis. The world cannot allow that our small people ( about 10 million in Israel) will not be safe in our very very small country.
Gaza people can get their territory from other Muslim countries like Egypt , Jordan, Lebanon ,Sirya, Iraq etc.
Please do not allow ISIS to get more territory!!!!! Sharia laws are not welcome in Israel borders since it's a democracy. Allowing this radical Muslim wave will kill democracy/ western way of life here and everywhere.
Thank you for taking the right decision.
There shouldn't be any authorization or acceptance of any hate or raced comments. The world has had enough. We need to encourage love and unity. Anything hinting hatred or war should be banned!
The slogan "fr*m the riv*r to the s*a" is a terrorist call to the annihilation the Jewish country of Israel, from the Israel-Jordan River all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in order to "give back" the land to the p*lest*ni*ns, which was ours, the Jewish people's all this time from the beginning of history, so in reality they want to steal my land. It's clear that not only is this pure Ant*semit*sm and calling to the mass m*rder of the Israelis here and around the world, but also deceives other people to think that Israel is a t*rror*st country and that we don't belong here, or we do a genocide in Gaza that started 50 years ago (which their population has only increased, this is a completely false), and a bunch of other lies. Me, growing up in Israel and witnessing everything that happened between us and the terrorist organizations, the people of the world that hate us based on convincing lies they've been told has happening so much to the point I've become numb to it. In Israel or the world, when we make protests supporting Israel we never have and don't use terror slogans towards the p*lest*ni*n people like mentioned above and we don't focus on how they are bad, unlike the pro-p*lest*ni*ns protests that spread lies and hate towards Israel. The slogan as mentioned above is a hateful saying that is good for nothing but hate and terror. Please, make the right decision and make that terrible slogan forbidden to use. Me, all of my friends and most of my family has deleted Facebook, the app and the account. If you decide to remove the slogan, I promise you not only not many pro-p*lest*ni*ns will delete Facebook aswell, but many more Israelis and pro Israel people will return to the app. Kind regards, someone who is tired of hate and terrorism to the point I've become numb to it.
"From the river to the sea" should not be allowed to be used. To me it means that there is no hope for long standing peace. It is a chanting for war and destruction. Israel is a democratic governed country with civil rights and civilians of all religions.
Israel is the country that is located from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean sea. So when I hear "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" it is not a request for ceasefire in Gaza, on the contrary, it is asking Hamas to keep going, it is asking to conquer Israel.
Calls for "from the river to the sea " mean the entire country of Israel.
Basically calling for genocide and destruction of Israel.
No posts should be allowed with that.
If you simply look at the map you see that the term from the river to the sea is simply calling for the extermination of Israel as a country. Which means eventually the deportation of Jewish people from their homeland.
This is pure antisemitism.
This call takes advantage of the fact that most people do not know history, and it is easy to influence the zoung ones with a 30-second Tiktok clip.
Therefore, this call ignores the UN decision on the division of the land between the Jews and the Arabs (which the Arabs refused), the cease-fire agreements (which the Arabs violated), and the peace agreements that were signed (which the Arabs violated).
And that's before we talked about more ancient history with archeological facts that show who lived there first.
But even if we look at more recent time.
What is Palestine? What is the origin of the name? After all, it came from the Romans as a derogatory name for the country where the Jews lived.
Was there an Arab-Palestinian leader before 1948? one? Was there a currency? flag? anthem?
After all, in 1918 the borders in the Middle East and Europe were determined - was a Palestinian state established then?
The world is falling for the "Palestinian" lie because they simply have invitations to let their anti-Semitic demon out.
Gaza is of no interest to anyone - if it had nothing to do with the Jews, no one would care what happens there, just like you don't care about half of Africa where endless people are murdered every day, just like they don't care about the Enlightened democracies of Syria, Yemen and Sudan....