“From the River to the Sea” is not forbidden language, ruled the Oversight Board established to take ultimate authority for moderation decisions on Facebook and other Meta platforms. The Sept. 4 decision examined three reported posts that used the phrase indicating solidarity with the Palestinian people, and concluded that the posts “did not break Meta’s rules on Hate Speech, Violence and Incitement or Dangerous Organizations and Individuals. Specifically, the three pieces of content contain contextual signs of solidarity with Palestinians—but no language calling for violence or exclusion. They also do not glorify or even refer to Hamas, an organization designated as dangerous by Meta. In upholding Meta’s decisions to keep up the content, the majority of the Board notes the phrase has multiple meanings and is used by people in various ways and with different intentions.”
The three posts in question had small numbers of views, and Facebook initially declined to take action against them when some users complained. The decisions not to take down the posts were appealed to the Oversight Board.
Because the posts “do not attack Jewish or Israeli people with calls for violence or exclusion, nor do they attack a concept or institution associated with a protected characteristic that could lead to imminent violence,” the posts, and those like them, will remain on Meta platforms, “as they do not contain threats of violence or other physical harm, nor do they glorify Hamas or its actions.”
