Several members of the oversight board of Facebook parent Meta have displayed clear anti-Israel bias since the war with Hamas began last October 7 — one even referred to Israel as a “terrorist government” and “the most criminal army in history.”
At least four members of the 21-member advisory group – which sparked outrage on Wednesday by setting out the anti-Israel phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” this is not hate speech – Has published views critical of the Jewish state.
One of the most outspoken is Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkal Karman, who has Mentioned civilian deaths In Gaza it is being called “ethnic cleansing” and a “war of extermination”.
In a June 7 post on X, Karman applauded the United Nations’ move to add the Israeli military to a global list of entities that harm children — known as the “list of shame.” Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were also included in this,
“The United Nations has placed Israel, its terrorist government and the most criminal army in history on a list of shame. I applaud this decision, which was long overdue,” Karaman wroteAccording to Google translate.
Earlier this year, Karman accused Israel of committing “genocide” during a controversial speech at the Vatican on March 11. He praised pro-Palestinian protests that took place on US college campuses, while accusing the world of being “silent.”
“A big salute to the students of America, all the students who are fighting against genocide not only in Gaza,” Karaman said“They are fighting and sacrificing to put America on the right side of history.”
Israel His speech was condemned as “blatantly anti-Semitic”.
Nighat Dad, a member of the Oversight Board and director of the Pakistan-based Digital Rights Foundation, has also been publicly critical of Israel after Hamas's sudden cross-border attack killed 1,200 people in Israel.
In An ex post last October 16Three days after Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of Gaza, Dad called the enclave “the world’s open-air prison.”
He expressed solidarity with Palestinian supporters Protesters in New York and included London in another post and captioned a video Hashtag “Gaza attack.”
In a January 7 post on X, Dad condemned the death of a Palestinian named “Hamza” who was “martyred in an Israeli attack.”
“How many more martyrs does the world need to see to stop this genocide of Muslims in #Gaza?” Dad wrote it.
In March, the dad posted a viral post “All eyes on Rafa” meme It used an image generated by AI.
Representatives for Meta and its independent oversight board did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
As the Post previously reported, Oversight Board member Alan Rusbridger, the former editor-in-chief of left-leaning UK 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.”
Andy Bayuni, Oversight Board member and senior editor at The Jakarta Post, A column was published last April arguing that Indonesia “They must be seen to be striving for an independent Palestinian state and full membership of the United Nations.”
Only one member of the oversight board is Israeli.
The “majority” of the panel ruled that users could use the phrase — which refers to the idea of a Palestinian state spanning the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, land currently controlled by Israel — as long as it is not used in a way that glorifies Hamas or calls for violence.
The Oversight Board has not released a detailed breakdown of the vote results, nor has it said which of its members participated.
Instead, the board 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.”
The majority of voting members acknowledged that the slogan “has many meanings and people use it in different ways and for different purposes.”
Meanwhile, Meta’s approach to moderating posts containing controversial slogans remains unclear.
In An example identified by The PostAn account called “Palestine Liberation Group” on Facebook shared a GIF in which a red arrow slowly erases the Star of David and then transforms into the Palestinian flag, along with the phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Several Jewish advocacy groups questioned whether Meta's oversight board could reach an impartial ruling on the “From the River to the Sea” slogan, given past comments by its members.
Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism movement, told the Post, “The fact that several members of Meta’s oversight board have made statements that misjudge the October 7 terror and unfairly criticize Israel shows there was clear bias in their decision to rule that “From the River to the Sea” is not considered hate speech.”
“Rather than evaluate the context and history of the phrase as a direct call to violence, the board has adopted an unfair double standard toward Israel that will only fuel anti-Semitism online,” he said.
An Anti-Defamation League spokesperson said: “We are concerned by allegations of anti-Israel bias made by some members of the Oversight Board who may have been involved in the recent offensive decision regarding the phrase 'from the river to the sea.' We will investigate this further.”
The World Jewish Congress said the oversight board “has shown itself to be a biased body that ultimately fails to protect vulnerable communities from hate speech.”
“The Oversight Board lacks transparency and accountability,” the organization said in a statement. “The World Jewish Congress will continue to work closely with Meta to ensure that hate speech and calls for violence are removed from the platform.”
