Meta shouldn’t take away ‘from the river to the ocean’ as hate speech, says Oversight Board

Meta’s semi-independent Oversight Board says the corporate made the best name in letting Fb customers publish pro-Palestine messages with the phrase “from the river to the ocean.”

In a choice printed as we speak, the board concluded the slogan “has a number of meanings and is utilized by individuals in numerous methods and with totally different intentions.” Consequently, it shouldn’t be eliminated below hate speech insurance policies until it’s accompanied by different violating content material — like explicitly antisemitic sentiments or reward for terrorist teams.

Following the October seventh assault on Israel by Hamas and the next retaliation by Israel, on-line service operators have been confronted with a flood of posts and movies associated to the battle, notably posts that supported Palestine with the phrase “from the river to the ocean.”

Some, like Etsy and Wix, both brazenly or secretly banned the phrase; X proprietor Elon Musk stated that it and different phrases “essentially indicate genocide” of Israelis and can be grounds for suspension. Others, like Meta, decided that extra context was crucial, deciding that whereas the phrase is utilized by Hamas in calling for the destruction of Israel, it’s additionally extra broadly employed by activists calling for Palestinian independence or a ceasefire.

A majority of the Oversight Board concurred with this choice. The board examined three items of content material — one remark and two posts — that contained “from the river to the ocean” as both a hashtag, a picture, or written textual content. In all three instances, it discovered, “there isn’t any language or sign calling for violence or exclusion.” The posts contained both express or “contextual alerts” of assist for Palestinian individuals and didn’t point out or assist Hamas.

The board notes {that a} minority disagreed with treating the phrase as impartial. As an alternative, given its use by Hamas, they argued for a coverage through which it was “presumed to represent glorification” of a terrorist group with out “clear alerts on the contrary.”

The Oversight Board additionally referred to as consideration to considerations about Meta’s choice to close down CrowdTangle, an analytics software that was shut down in mid-August. The software offered information that typically revealed embarrassing traits on Fb, and Meta argued its experiences have been unrepresentative of the platform’s actual dynamics.

However the board says CrowdTangle was key to researching how individuals truly used “from the river to the ocean.” The software didn’t embody content material Fb eliminated for coverage violations; even so, it let researchers conclude the slogan was “typically utilized in posts elevating consciousness in regards to the influence of the struggle on Palestinians, calling for a ceasefire or advocating for rights of Palestinians.”

Meta changed CrowdTangle with a brand new system referred to as the Meta Content material Library, however researchers have complained that it has restricted performance and isn’t broadly accessible. “Whereas the Board commends Meta for growing new analysis instruments and dealing to supply better performance, the Board is worried with the corporate’s choice to close down CrowdTangle earlier than these new instruments can successfully substitute it,” it says, making a nonbinding suggestion that Meta broaden the brand new software’s functionality within the coming months. “Meta ought to make sure the Meta Content material Library is an acceptable alternative.”