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 term means the annihilation of the state of Israel - the only Jewish country which was mandated to the Jewish people by the UN after the British mandate ended. The pretence that this term is peaceful is misleading.
That phrase clearly means that there is no space for Israelis or Jews between the river jordan and the Mediterranean Sea but only for Palestinians which is a clear call for genocide and must be banned from use on social media sites
האמרה הזו מזוהה עם ארגוני טרור שמטרתם המוצהרת היא חיסול מדינת ישראל יושביה היהודים. הנהר והים הדוברים ) גם אם ההמון אינו יודע היכן או או איך הם נקראים) נמצאים בשני קצוות המדינה מה שמצביע על הכוונה לסלק/ להשמיד כל מי שנמצא בין שתי נקודות הציון הנ"ל. בתור יהודיה הישראלית אני מרגישה שהמשפט הזה מעודד אנטישמיות ומעודד מעשי טרור על מנת להוציא לפועל את הנאמר במשפט. אני תושבת ישראל ולכן משפט זה גורם לי להרגיש מאוימת ואני חוששת ממה ששימוש נפוץ במשפט הזה יביא לפגיעה בי, המשפחתי ובעמי. אודה לכם אם תעזרו על השימוש במשפט האנטישמי הזה
From the river to the sea is where the state of Israel is. Turning it into a Palestinian country means that Israel, the only Jewish state in the world, will not exist. As we kno from history - when there is no Jewish state Jews are being murdered with no one protecting them. Hence the horrible fraze "from the river to the sea" actually means no right for Judaism to exist, so it is clear that this is pure antisemitism!
You should remove the phrase " from the river to the sea", this implies of the genocide of the Jewish people, ans the extermination of Israel
‘From the river to the sea’ is perfectly understood as a slogan of liberation for the people of Palestine, who have been under occupation and have lived as refugees without access to their homeland. As a South African Jew I cannot see anything wrong with that.
The meaning of the sentence "From the river to the sea", is that the Palestinians want to own that land from the river to sea, which means no one can exist on that land except them.
They belive in demolishing Israel in order to build a country.
They don't look for peace, they look to kill all the Jewish in Israel and to conquer that land.
The saying "from the river to the sea" actually refers to the Jordan River to the Red Sea, which are the borders of the State of Israel from end to end. What this statement means is actually denying the existence of the State of Israel and transferring it to the Palestinian people who actually never recognized the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people. The State of Israel was established as the only state in the world for the Jewish people according to the UN resolution in 1948. The denial of the existence of the State of Israel basically calls for the genocide of the Jewish people and the denial of their right to a state.
This phrase is racist snd genocidal. It calls for the extermination and deportation of Jews from their only homeland: Israel.
This awful phrase needs to be banned from social media, before it takes us back to the dark days before world war 2.
STAND WITH HUMANITY!
This is a hate speech ckearly calling for the killing or displacing all jews living in Israel
This is an offensive sentence that calls to genocide Jewish people in Israel. It means that Israel does not have the right to exist.
“from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”is a political rallying cry for terrorist groups and their supporters, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,PFLP, to Hamas , which calls for Israel’s destruction and was responsible and proud for the October 7 2023 terror attack ,murdering over 1200 people, rapping and enjoining live webcast of killings and kidnapping babies mothers grandmothers civilians and soldiers , most of them still kept in captivity
From the river to the see = cleansing of Israel state from all its population = call for genocide of jews!!!
As a jew it brings me back to the 2nd WW where such calles were made in Europe.
By allowing the use of this phrase, Mega allows a hate speech on its platform. As a comparison Mega would not allow such phrases to be posted in reference the black people for example or other minorities. I call you to ban the use of "from the river to the sea" on Mega platforms!!
Hello to whoever is reading it.
Posts that include the saying "from the river the sea" are against the existence of Israel country which is the only Jewish country in the world.
Calling for the distraction of the Jewish country is antisemitic and is just as hurtful as calling for death of Jews or Christians or Blacks or Arabs or any specific group.
"From the river to the see" is a call for hate and violence against Jews. We can see the evidence for that in what is happening in a lot of places around the United States of America and Europe:
The calling and justification of Killing and raping Jews in the name of resistance, harassment of Jewish students, calling for violence towards Jewish people around the world, a growing phenomenon of antisemitic violent behavior towards people that aren't even israelis and are showing Jewish heritage, incitement to break the law and disrespect the government and democracy, there are many more examples whether it is online or real life...
There is an up growing permission to use anti-semitic phrases and propaganda and one of them is the phrase "from the river to the sea" and as a Jew and as a human being that believe that all men and women are equal regardless of their gender, race, color of skin, religion beliefs or ethnicity, I see it to be very important to put a stop to hate an insightful speech.
I hope you see it the same way and will strat doing something against this up growing hate.
The fact that you cannot agree that is a slur that should be taken down because it is considered hate speech is deplorable. The eradication of the one country that is a Jewish state should be wiped off the map isn’t hateful? This should be allowed? Where are your priorities? If it was a slur against Blacks it would be quickly taken down!!!!! Isn’t this hypocrisy!! When is the world going to wake up that these same people who wrote this slur hate America too and burn American flags?? Your platform in flagging this type of speech needs to be tweaked.
From the River to the Sea is an anti-Israel chant proclaimed by many who have no idea which river and which sea. In fact, it refers to the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, meaning that the entire region between the two should be free of Jews. Considering that is the location of Israel, the only Jewish state in the world, this is a call for ethic cleansing and mass expulsion of Jews from their only country. This chant has never included proposals for resettlement of Jews elsewhere, and indeed it is often accompanied by chants to kill all Jews or drive them into the sea; therefore, it is also a call for genocide of Jews. It is hate speech, racist and should be banned from social media.
Thank you for letting us express our opinion in this matter.
As a daughter of Jewish immigrants who came to Israel for a better life and to be united with the Jewish nation, I am appalled by this chant calling for the destruction and removal of the only Jewish state in the world. The Jewish people came to Israel from all over the world seeking safety and sense of belonging.
This is our state, the only place in the Middle East where freedom is more than just a word.
"From the river to the sea" is a direct call for genocide, basically advocating for the removal of all jews from the only Jewish country that exists on earth (which was granted by the UN after 6M Jews were murdered in the holocaust).
We are the citizens of Israel
will not tolerate any kind
of anti-Semitic expression!
all those people who call :
" free palestine"
or
"from the river to the sea"
they are all calling to murder all the jews in disguise !
this is not year of 1930 its 2024 !
Any sort of calls
for the Jewish genocide are unacceptable!!!!!
Get it into your twisted mind now!
Israel has the right to defend itself against any attack !