The authority tasked with overseeing content decisions on Meta’s platforms has ruled that the use of the phrase “from the river to the sea” is not always harmful, violent or discriminatory.
The phrase refers to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea – the entirety of the current state of Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territories – and has been used in a variety of contexts on Instagram and Facebook, the Oversight Board said in its decision.
The board looked at three cases, with content that included a post that expressed solidarity with Palestinian families, an image of watermelon slices that formed the words of the phrase, and a comment on a video encouraging others to “speak up” that included the “PalestineWillBeFree” and “DefundIsrael” hashtags. It found the content had “contextual signs of solidarity with the Palestinians” and did not call for violence or glorify Hamas. As a result, the board ruled Meta was right not to remove the posts. The decision was informed by the opinions and contributions of more than 2,400 people and organisations.
The board noted there were multiple meanings, with it used as part of the Palestinian protest movement, included in the 2017 Hamas charter, and also appearing in the 1977 platform of Israel’s Likud Party. More recently, it had been linked to statements made by Israel’s current administration.
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“There has been an unacceptable and deeply disturbing rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on- and offline, with widely reported rises in assault, vandalism and harassment. Social media companies have a clear responsibility to ensure they do not fan the flames of hate,” said Oversight Board co-chair Pamela San Martín.
“But context is crucial. Simply removing political speech is not a solution. There needs to be room for debate, especially during times of crisis and conflict.”
The number of English-language posts containing the phrase “From the River to the Sea” increased fiftyfold on Facebook in a six-month period following the October 7th attacks by Hamas in Israel, and the subsequent military action in Gaza by Israel. It found the use of the phrase in English rose to 82,082 incidences. During the same period, Arabic content using the phrase doubled to 2,880.
Although the research commissioned by the Oversight Board did not highlight posts that supported the Hamas attacks or called for violence against Jewish people, it was limited, as the research could only access public content that Meta allowed to appear on its platforms. It did not include content removed for violating the rules.
Ms San Martín said it was impossible to know how much legitimate political content Meta was taking down in error or how effective the company was at blocking harmful content from people’s feeds. She called on Meta to give independent monitoring more support and facilitate better access to its data.
“Instead of increasing transparency, Meta has closed down CrowdTangle and restricted access to its replacement, the Content Library,” she said. “With CrowdTangle, Meta has long been an industry leader in transparency. While we are hopeful that the new Meta Content Library will continue this legacy, the board is concerned about the broader impact for researchers and journalists.
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“We call on Meta to ensure any new tools offer the same or improved functionality and to quickly provide access to all organisations and journalists who were previously eligible. This is as crucial for conflicts as it is for elections and all other major crises around the world.”
The Oversight Board, which began looking at cases at the end of 2020, functions as an avenue of appeal for users who have exhausted Meta’s own procedures. It holds Meta accountable to the community standards for Facebook and Instagram, and also its commitment to human rights. Aside from the authority the board has over Meta’s decisions to remove or leave content up on its platforms, it also issues recommendations to the company that can help shape its policies.
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