Meta liberates ‘from the river to the sea’

Alameen Templeton

Myopic US weapons inspectors can’t see genocide in Gaza, British arms detectives think genocide is happening, but don’t know which gizmos cause death. Perhaps, they should turn to artificial intelligence (AI).

Because Meta’s, the algorithm company that powers most social media companies, has ruled “from the river to the sea” is a legitimate rallying cry for Palestinians and is not a call for genocide, as Zionists have claimed.

Meta’s oversight body ruled Wednesday it shouldn’t automatically take down posts using the phrase.

“From the river to the sea” refers to bringing justice and mercy to Palestine which is bordered by the Joran River in the East and the Mediterranean Sea in the West.

Zionist politicians in the EU and the US have targeted the phrase, saying without any substantiation that pro-Palestinian protestors chanting the phrase are calling for all Jews living between the two natural borders to be wiped out. Ž

But, their claims are not borne out by the facts.

When Meta’s oversight board – a collection of supposedly “independent” academics, experts and lawyers – examined the actual use of the phrase and the surrounding context, they found the Zionists were lying, as usual.

The said Wednesday posts they examined using the phrase didn’t violate the company’s rules against hate speech, inciting violence or praising dangerous organizations.

“While [the phrase] can be understood by some as encouraging and legitimizing antisemitism and the violent elimination of Israel and its people, it is also often used as a political call for solidarity, equal rights and self-determination of the Palestinian people, and to end the war in Gaza,” the board ruled.

Meta spokesman Corey Chambliss welcomed the review: “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.”

The political heat generated by the Gaza genocide forced Meta to carefully tread an online line between supporting free expression and suppressing hate speech. Wednesday’s ruling may fuel tensions.

Some Zionist groups have accused the social media giant of allowing antisemitism to surge on its networks in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 retaliation to 70 years of oppression that ignited the genocide.

But Meta has also been lambasted by digital rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups, who say its restrictions of the phrase were clamping down on legitimate political critiques of the genocide in Gaza that has claimed over 52 000 lives.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have used the phrase “from the river to the sea” to express their support for Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The board reviewed three cases where the phrase was used on the platform, including a comment on a Facebook video that had a “FromTheRiverToTheSea” hashtag and #DefundIsrael with heart emojis in the colours of the Palestinian flag. Another user posted an image of floating watermelon slices — a stand-in for the Palestinian flag — alongside the comment “Palestine will be free.”

In all three cases, Zionists demanded Meta remove the content, but the company refused. The users then appealed to the review board.

According to the board, the posts don’t specifically attack Jewish or Israeli people “with calls for violence or exclusion,” excluding them from the company’s definition of hate speech. The board also said the cases didn’t break the company’s rules against inciting violence or praising dangerous organizations or individuals because they specifically refer to Hamas or its acts. Rather, the cases showed the phrase was being used in solidarity with Palestinians.

A minority of the board disagreed. While individual cases don’t violate company policy, the minority contingent argued Meta should “assume the phrase glorifies Hamas and remove it by default”.

Hamas is on Tier 1 of Meta’s list of dangerous organizations and individuals. Israel, that has killed 51 000 people in a merciless, unrelenting genocide lasting 333 days, is not included in the Tier. Hence, Meta bars explicit praise or glorification of Hamas on social networks, but allows posts glorifying Israel, its military and its genocide.

For nearly a year, Meta has wrestled with content about the Gaza genocide. Soon after the bodies and the rubble started piling up last year, throngs of Palestinian supporters complained Meta had suppressed their content about the holocaust.

And it’s taken Meta 333 days to make a decision. That’s a long time to act, when immediate action is needed.

In July, Meta started to remove speech targeting “Zionists”, saying the word could be referring to Jews and Israelis, if the posts included dehumanizing comparisons, calls for harm or denials of existence.

Meta is also considering cases in which “Zionist” appears with comparisons to criminals, like “Zionists are war criminals.” That ruling is still pending.

Hopefully, it won’t take another 333 days to make what is an obvious decision.