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
As an Israeli the statement -from the rever to the sea... is offensive to me. This sentence means death to all the Jewish people in Israel.
כתושבת ישראל אני לא יכולה להתחיל להסביר בכלל כמה זה כואב ומתסכל לראות את הקריאה ההמונית לרצח העם שלי כפי שכעט מתאפשר ברשתות החברתיות. אני מפצירה בכם, בבקשה. עצרו את זה!
This phrase calls for the annihilation of all jews living in Israel. This phrase violates the jews human rights for security and dehumize jews.
This call does not extend a chance for peace, since in this phrase there is only a single solution, for jews to disappear, just like Hitler's final solution.
This phrase calls for extreme violence and offers solutions that should never be said out loud.
Therefore this phrase should be banned for use.
Imagine Hitler had the power of digital marketing. WOW! He was successful without it but he would have been able to spread his poison ideology much faster. What we see today is the dangerous power of social media. here you are required Social media to decide on content being spread on your platform. The slogan “ from the river to the sea” obviously suggesting removal of the existing people on this land by the Palestinians. It is not talking about two states. It is not talking about integration. It’s simply suggesting removal of the people from this land. Your duty is to forbidden this kind of communication on your platform. You have to remember, what is the message inciting that must be the indicator.
This phrase if you look at it, means that they want to eradicate all the people living in israel. (As they tried to do on October 7th)
There is no room for these kind of phrases. You don't hear jews around the world calling to eradicate all muslims since in 1300+ they conquer all of europe from the christians.
Please revoke the use of this phrase, this is how young people are learning about what is going on in the middle east
The statement "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" is not simply a call for the establishment of a State of Palestine (which would be a legitimate statement), but inherently is also an explicit call to annihilate the State of Israel. Such a call is fundamentally threatening to Jews in general and Israelis in particular. Those who use this slogan are not expressing commitment to a peaceful solution of the Israel-Palestine conflict, rather are intent on imposing an implicitly violent approach that would result in the forceful removal of Jews from the land of Israel, most likely in the form of a genocide.
As a progressive, non-religious individual living in Tel Aviv, I'm deeply troubled by the phrase "from the river to the sea." It feels threatening and hostile, suggesting the elimination of me, my loved ones, and my community. Despite its catchy rhyme, it's a clear and direct threat to our lives.
When this protest say this stupid sentence they don’t have any idea where is Israel. Is no any river in Israel also they call to do a genocide to the Jews notion.
I’m Arab that left an Arab country because the Islam kill my family and destroy my life.
Let the world be in peace and stop to hunting the Jewish population
from the river to the sea calling to delete the people that are sitting right now on the land of Israel.
it provokes so much hate toward amazing people, from people that dont know the full history.
you must to ban this kind of hate.
From the river to the sea means the the distraction of the state of Israel
Hey
The sentence”from the river to the sea Palestine will be free”
Is suggesting that there will be no more Israel.
Just look at the map!!!!
It’s important to understand that from the river to the sea calls for a genocide of all Jews between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean sea. This is an anti-Semitic slogan that needs to disappear.
The phrase "from the river to the sea Palestine will be free" - the meaning is one, and only one. The intention is for Palestine to be free of Jews.
And how do you clean a country or an area off Jews - you are invited to seek what has happened in the Holocaust
Hey,
I wanted to report about the use of the this despicable fraise used in you platform "from the river to the sea"
this is a literally calling for the genocide of all the Israelis in Israel. it's promoting anti-Semitism , violence and hate. how can you give an hand to this crime in your platform.
as some one who lost so many friends and 3 family members in the latest terror attack on October 7th , you are taking part in this hate against us.
pls - remove this from you platforms - and be on the right side of humanity
KR
Rinat
From the river to the sea refers to the elimination of Israel, which mean killing the Israeli people at their homeland and at their homes or forcing a mass evacuation by force.
I am a Jew live in Israel with no other nationalities. I live between the river Jordan to the Mediterranean sea. The call “from the river to the sea, palestine will be free” means that I do not have a right to live in this area. I have no other place to go.
This call basically mean that the entire land, from the river to the sea does not belong to Israel and we all need to vanish. Since i do not have anywhere to go, this is a call for forced transfer which is a genocidal call.
A basic knowledge in geography will lead to the understanding that the current state of Israel is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean sea.
"To be free" means "free of jews". The clear meaning of the call "from the river to the sea" is a call to kill Jews and destroy the State of Israel.
This is the darkest antisemitism and a call for another holocaust.
Sounds innocent, right?
And I wish we didn't have to limit an expression that SOUNDS so innocent.
But to the Palestinians themselves this expression means the extermination of Israel. To them freeing Palestine is freeing not only Judea Samaria and Gaza but ALL of what is between the river to the sea, i.e. including a little state that's located there - called Israel. It's as simple as that. To them all of it is Palestine, all of it is THEIR Palestine, and we stole it from them in 1948, and they deserve ALL of it back.
It's not a call for some symbolic spiritual freedom. It's not a call for independent Palestine alongside Israel (ask Palestinians: What does it mean when you say from the river to the sea? do you accept that another state will be there by your aspired state? Of course not! they will tell you). It has nothing to do with a two state solution, with a peaceful outcome, with coexistence. None of that. It's a call for making the state of 'Israel' disappear off the map, and having a bigger state called 'Palestine' appear right on top of it.
Bottom line. This is a call for genocidal violence.
The slogan "from the river to the sea" is indeed controversial, as it's often associated with the Palestinian nationalist movement and has been used in contexts that some interpret as advocating for the elimination of Israel. This interpretation can be deeply concerning for Israelis and Jews, given historical tensions and conflicts in the region. It's important for discussions around such sensitive topics to be respectful and nuanced to avoid further polarization and harm.
The meaning of "from the river to the sea" in the real map of the region is from the Jordan River in the east, to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Those are the geographical borders of the state of Israel. When claiming that Palestine should be free in these borders there is no other meaning but the call to erase/ destroy Israel, the Jewish people land.
This is not a call for national justice for the Palestinians, but a dangerous statement that echoes the vision of radical Islam and terrorist organizations. Those who want to demand justice for one side do not call for the expansion of violence and the destruction of the other side.
This call refers to those who’re not acknowledging Israel is the state of the Jewish people and calling against the existence of the Israeli state. This call related to those who also publishing the Palestinian flag in a full map of the current Israeli state. Extinction or not recognizing a legal state in the UN is. call for violence therefore I would ask you to block this kind comments/posts