Meta’s supervisory board rules that ‘From the river to the sea’ is not hate speech

“In particular, all three pieces of content contain contextual signs of solidarity with Palestinians, but do not contain any language that incites violence or exclusion,” Meta wrote in its decision. “They also do not glorify or make reference to Hamas, an organization that Meta considers dangerous.”

While the board agreed that the phrase has multiple meanings, critics claim the words refer to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish non-governmental organization, has called the slogan “From the River to the Sea” anti-Semitic and “a rallying cry that has long been used by anti-Israel voices, including supporters of terrorist organizations like Hamas.”

The slogan has gained traction on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Threads since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

Pro-Palestinian activists, who have chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” at protests, including during demonstrations last spring on college campuses, insist it is a call for equality and an independent state for Palestinians.

Minouche Shafik, former president of Columbia University, warned students that using the term could lead to disciplinary action. In Germany, the use of the slogan is a criminal offence.

According to Meta’s board of directors, which is made up of nonpartisan lawyers, academics and technology advisors, for the phrase to be considered hate speech on its platforms, it must be accompanied by other language.

“The phrase ‘independent’ cannot be understood as a call to violence against a group based on its protected characteristics, as an advocacy of exclusion of a particular group or support for a designated entity: Hamas,” the board wrote.

Meta’s board acknowledged in Wednesday’s decision that it understands why some people believe the phrase supports Hamas after it appeared in the terror group’s 2017 bylaws.

“The use of the phrase by this terrorist group with explicit violent, eliminatory intent and actions does not make the phrase inherently hateful – or violent – considering the variety of people who use it in different ways.”