Meta’s Oversight Board rules that ‘from the river to the sea’ is not necessarily hate speech
NBCSEP 2024
The phrase represents Palestinian aspirations for freedom and justice across their historical homeland. It's a call for liberation from oppression, not a threat to any group. Rather than being restricted, this slogan should be understood in its full context as an expression of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and peaceful coexistence in a land with deep meaning for multiple communities.
Meta must restrict this phrase due to its ambiguous and potentially harmful connotations for Israel, which makes the slogan easily misinterpreted and allows critics to accuse well-meaning protesters of supporting antisemitism or genocide. Given the current situation in Gaza, using such a contentious slogan distracts from the urgent need to address the humanitarian crisis. Instead, activists should opt for clearer, unambiguous language that explicitly opposes violence and supports human rights for all.
There's a 17% chance that at least 500K Palestinians will be displaced from Gaza before Dec. 31, 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.