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 "from the river to the sea" refers to the location of the State of Israel which is located between Mediterranean Sea and river Jordan. This land has been populated by Jews for several thousands years and has been assigned to the State of Israel after the fall of the Osman Empire, along with creation of such Arab states as Jordan, Lebanon, etc. Calls for liberating the land "from the river to the sea" from Jewish people are direct calls for elimination of the Jewish state and murder and exile of millions of Jewish civilians who call this land home. These are calls for elimination of the only Jewish state in the world. Please remove all posts containing this hateful language.
This statement is a call to wipe all of Israel off the map, and for Israel to not exist.
"From the river to the sea" is not anti-Semitic. The board's findings were correct.
"From the River to rhe Sea" calls for the total elimination of the State of Israel first, followed by global extinction of all people of the Jewish faith. No other nation has been threatened with extinction, including regimes that suppress and violate basic human rights.
The phrase became a popular call to arms among members of the Likud Party early on, and as such was a call to ethnic cleansing (ie. Removal of Arabs… Muslim, Christian, and in actuality Jews as well).
Recently the phrase has been adopted by the Free Palestine movement which seeks to throw off Israeli occupation. In this sense, it doesn’t have a hate speech component so much as a call for liberation.
There is currently a genocide happening in Gaza, which is relevant here. The phrase 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' acknowledges that there is an illegal occupation happening in Palestine, and that all people living in the area have the right to be free. It calls for an end to that illegal occupation. The genocide that is currently happening is not of Israelis or of Jews, but of Palestinians, of all faiths. To muffle cries that are trying to prevent and halt an actual genocide in favour of a rhetorical one is short-sighted and engaging in unwarranted restrictions of freedom of expression - as someone who has worked as a specialist in matters of FOE for over 20 years, in an authoritarian country I could discuss the technicalities but think this one is obvious.
In the US Constituition the first ammendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press is given, and should be protected. You might not like what I have to say, but it is my right to say it!
"From the river to the sea, Palestine should be free", to me means nothing more than the Palestinian right to self determination and the freedom to not be killed.
The Likud Party of Israel states this as its platform "The right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is eternal and indisputable… therefore, Judea and Samaria will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty. —Likud Party Platform, 1977" I think you can see the similarities. To ban one slogan must the other not too be banned?
This is a slippery slope that denys the people their freedom of expression and does not violate Facebook community standards for being hate speech.
I submit this article by The Nation as it helps to define this better than I ever could. Thank you. Tracy Miller Cohen
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/its-time-to-confront-israels-version-of-from-the-river-to-the-sea/
This means simply to wipe off Israel from the map. This is not acceptable and calls for elimination of the whole country and whole nation. Should not be allowed.
From the river to the sea is calling for the elimination of the only Jewish country and the genocide of the Jews that live there. It is antisemitic and should be banned as hate speech
Hello, the phrase "From the River to the Sea" refers to freedom for the Palestinian people living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Currently, they live under apartheid, which is a crime against humanity (as per Amnesty International's 280 page report and conclusions about Israel's apartheid).
The Palestinians have the right to live without being constantly repressed, dispossessed, humiliated, detained, tortured and so on.
This is what this phrase means.
Freedom of speech needs to be protected!
From the river to the sea specifically refers to from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean Sea and is clearly hate speech as it calls for the eradication of the state of Israel! It is clearly understood by the world that the phrase is calling for genocide of the Jews!
This statement is 100% relating the hate and complete destruction of the Jewish people. It must not be allowed.
The statement “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” For annihilation of the Jewish state of Israel! They should go against all community standards!
Censorship of those that are hoping for a better world, calling out injustice, and shedding light on the barbaric indiscriminate bombing and genocide of a population (we all have seen it, and you know this to be true) is absolutely abhorrent. This is inarguable and choosing to remove these words, this rallying cry for hope, from the oppressed and their supporters is disgusting and a step towards a future you should be frightened of. Your actions today have global implications. Will you make the world a better place?
“From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” is a rallying cry for terrorist groups and their sympathizers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to Hamas, which called for Israel’s destruction in its original governing charter in 1988 and was responsible for the October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israeli civilians, murdering over 1,200 people in the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. It is also a common call-to-arms for pro-Palestinian activists, especially student activists on college campuses. It calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people. Another phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” which uses the Arabic word for “uprising” or “shaking off,” also calls for widespread violence against both Israelis and Jews across the globe (see “Globalize the Intifada”).
The phrase 'from the river to the sea, palestine will be free' is a statement advocating for the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Jewish Israelis.
This call for Israel and Jews to be removed completely, wiped off the map, literally and figuratively!!
The phrase ‘From the river to the sea’ is used to describe the intention of the Palestinians to erase Israel and kill all the Jews that are currently living there. Given the current state of affairs in Gaza, it is safe to assume that the Druze, Copts, Christians, and various other religious groups that are currently living in Israel would be also eliminated should the Palestinians succeed in their intentions to make a single Arab state ‘from the river to the sea’.
The phrase "From the River to the Sea" is not antisemitic, is not hate speech, and should not be banned from your platforms.
“From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” is a rallying cry for terrorist groups and their sympathizers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to Hamas, which called for Israel’s destruction in its original governing charter in 1988 and was responsible for the October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israeli civilians, murdering over 1,200 people in the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. It is also a common call-to-arms for pro-Palestinian activists, especially student activists on college campuses. It calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people.
In other words, another holocaust of the Jewish people. If this does not constitute hate speech, I do not know what does.