Several members of Meta's oversight board have expressed views critical of Israel's actions in Gaza. The board has faced strong criticism for stating that the anti-Israel phrase “from the river to the sea” is not hate speech.
The advisory board, which claims to be independent of Meta, determined that Facebook and Instagram Users can use controversial slogans — which has surfaced during anti-Israel protests across the country — as long as it’s not used to glorify Hamas or call for violence.
Established in 2020 with the approval of Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, the Oversight Board currently has 21 members who “come from a variety of cultural and professional backgrounds, speak over 30 languages and are selected to reflect the diverse users of Facebook, Instagram and Threads,” according to its website.
Yet, past comments by several members call into question their ability to remain neutral with regard to the slogan, which refers to the idea of a Palestinian state spanning the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea – land currently under Israeli control.
Its members include Yemeni activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman, who said in a speech at the Vatican last May that “the world is silent in the face of the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people in Gaza.” She was condemned by Israel. Described the speech as “blatantly anti-Semitic.”
Alan Rusbridger, former editor-in-chief of the left-wing British news outlet The Guardian, wrote A column earlier this year argued While “genuine and abhorrent anti-Semitism” exists, “the horrors of October 7 certainly did not occur in a vacuum.” He also offered his opinion on the “river to sea” debate.
“Some even considered the slogan worthy of prosecution. Yet Netanyahu recently declared that Israel should “assume security control over all territory west of the Jordan River” — thereby erasing the idea of a Palestinian state. Can one thing be said and not the other?” Rusbridger wrote.
Nighat Dad, director of the Pakistan-based Digital Rights Foundation, said, A 2018 column accused Facebook of “Kowtowing to Israel, which can rightly be called an occupying state, by silencing the voices of historically oppressed peoples confirms the influence some governments have over Silicon Valley tech giants.”
Andy Bayuni, Oversight Board member and senior editor at The Jakarta Post, wrote a column last April arguing that Indonesia “They must be seen to be striving for an independent Palestinian state and full membership of the United Nations.”
The oversight board did not say which of its members took part in the vote or how many voted for and against the decision. The Post has contacted the board for comment.
Other notable members of the board include former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former UN spokesperson Khaled Monsour, and Mexico City-based human rights lawyer Pamela San Martin.
The board acknowledged that some of its members disagreed with the decision and pointed out that the phrase “from the river to the sea” also appears in the charter of the Hamas terrorist group.
“A minority of the board believes Meta should adopt a default rule that assumes a phrase glorifies a specified organization unless there are clear indications that the user does not support Hamas or the October 7 attacks,” the board's statement on the decision said.
Meanwhile, a majority of voters across the board believed the phrase “has multiple meanings and people use it in different ways and with different intentions.”
“Context is important,” said San Martin, co-chair of the board. “Simply removing political speech is not a solution. There must be room for debate, especially in times of crisis and conflict.”
The group said its decisions “are made by a panel of five members and approved by a majority of the full board” and added that these decisions “do not necessarily represent the views of all members.”
Of the 21 members listed on the oversight board's website, only one is Israeli.
Amy Palmer is a Jerusalem-born lawyer and former director general of Israel's Justice Ministry who was part of the team that negotiated with Hamas for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit after his infamous kidnapping in 2006. Her parents survived the Holocaust when she was a child.
in March 2021 Interview with Jewish InsiderPalmer said she joined the oversight board to provide her perspective as a Jew on issues of anti-Semitism or genocide.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement, a watchdog advocacy group, called the oversight board's decision “absurd” and said it would fuel anti-Semitism online.
“‘From the river to the sea’ is a slogan created with the sole view of destroying the national homeland of the Jewish people,” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman said in a statement. “It is genocidal in intent and meaning, and it is not a legitimate political or ideological approach, as it targets a Jewish state and its inhabitants for destruction.”
In May, CAM presented a white paper to Meta's oversight board, explaining its position on why the slogan should be banned.
“It reflects a conscious bias that some on the Meta Oversight Board use a twisted logic and verbal distortions to protect anti-Semites,” Roytman said. “We sent them the history and context of the phrase and how it was invented and used as a call for genocide by only those who have openly and proudly called for the murder of Jews everywhere.”
“This outrage cannot be justified by any amount of context or twisted logic.”
The World Jewish Congress said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision.
“The phrase 'from the river to the sea,' part of the charter of the terrorist group Hamas, is a clear call to violence against Israelis and the Jewish world,” the WJC said. “Jews around the world have an absolute right to live freely as Jews, and Meta's decision does nothing to reduce the blatant anti-Semitism. Words matter, especially after October 7.”
