Facebook’s Oversight Board is expected to review moderation policies and rule whether the platform will deem genocidal anti-Israel “From the river to the sea” chant as “hate speech.”The board — whose members include ex-Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger and Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former prime minister of Denmark — will look at three posts that were viewed millions of times between them. One of the three posts is by an unnamed Canadian pro-Palestine organization, the New York Post reported. The board will investigate complaints received by users as pertains the slogan, which means “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, Palestine will be free” — the Islamic extremist mandate to annihilate all Jews in the Middle East region and throughout the world. Hate speech watchdogs point out calling for genocide on the Jewish people is a Hamas rallying cry. The oversight panel said three such posts would be under consideration, per the Telegraph. Despite numerous complaints after and being viewed by millions of people, the posts were left online. These three posts were picked in particular as examples to determine how Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, should moderate the hateful phrase. “Given the resurgence in its use after October 7, 2023, and the controversies surrounding the phrase’s meaning,” the board said. The board’s ruling, however, will be non-binding. Further, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has already informed the board it finds the three specific posts do not violate its hate speech policy and denied the slogan as a Hamas call to violence. “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 company said per the New York Post. “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.”The posts, written in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, all refer to the “from the river to the sea” slogan. The Canadian post was flagged after it had been shared by multiple users. It called Israel’s retaliation as a “senseless slaughter,” Israel a “Zionist State,” and the Jewish people “Zionist Israeli occupiers.”The second post contains a video rallying people to “speak up,” with hashtags “#ceasefire,” “#freepalestine,” “#FromTheRiverToTheSea,” “DefundIsrael” and others.The third, viewed eight million times, contained an image of fruit spelling out, “Palestine will be free.”In December, the Telegraph reported Meta had allowed advertisements with the “from the river to the sea” slogan. “We welcome the board’s review of our guidance in this matter. While all of our policies are developed with safety in mind, we know they come with global challenges and we regularly seek input from experts outside Meta, including the Oversight Board,” said a Meta spokesman at the time. “As we’ve said previously, we continually assess our policy guidance to better understand potential impacts on different communities. This work is ongoing, and we look forward to the board’s decision and recommendations.”
Facebook’s Oversight Board is expected to review moderation policies and rule whether the platform will deem genocidal anti-Israel “From the river to the sea” chant as “hate speech.”The board — whose members include ex-Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger and Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former prime minister of Denmark — will look at three posts that were viewed millions of times between them. One of the three posts is by an unnamed Canadian pro-Palestine organization, the New York Post reported. The board will investigate complaints received by users as pertains the slogan, which means “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, Palestine will be free” — the Islamic extremist mandate to annihilate all Jews in the Middle East region and throughout the world. Hate speech watchdogs point out calling for genocide on the Jewish people is a Hamas rallying cry. The oversight panel said three such posts would be under consideration, per the Telegraph. Despite numerous complaints after and being viewed by millions of people, the posts were left online. These three posts were picked in particular as examples to determine how Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, should moderate the hateful phrase. “Given the resurgence in its use after October 7, 2023, and the controversies surrounding the phrase’s meaning,” the board said. The board’s ruling, however, will be non-binding. Further, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has already informed the board it finds the three specific posts do not violate its hate speech policy and denied the slogan as a Hamas call to violence. “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 company said per the New York Post. “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.”The posts, written in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, all refer to the “from the river to the sea” slogan. The Canadian post was flagged after it had been shared by multiple users. It called Israel’s retaliation as a “senseless slaughter,” Israel a “Zionist State,” and the Jewish people “Zionist Israeli occupiers.”The second post contains a video rallying people to “speak up,” with hashtags “#ceasefire,” “#freepalestine,” “#FromTheRiverToTheSea,” “DefundIsrael” and others.The third, viewed eight million times, contained an image of fruit spelling out, “Palestine will be free.”In December, the Telegraph reported Meta had allowed advertisements with the “from the river to the sea” slogan. “We welcome the board’s review of our guidance in this matter. While all of our policies are developed with safety in mind, we know they come with global challenges and we regularly seek input from experts outside Meta, including the Oversight Board,” said a Meta spokesman at the time. “As we’ve said previously, we continually assess our policy guidance to better understand potential impacts on different communities. This work is ongoing, and we look forward to the board’s decision and recommendations.”
