Lawmakers Criticize Meta Oversight Board Ruling on ‘River to Sea’ Slogan

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers criticized Meta’s Oversight Board for ruling that the phrase “From the river to the sea” does not violate the social media company’s rules against hate speech, violence and incitement.

The lawmakers noted in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Congress had voted in a bipartisan manner to condemn the sentence — which they said “is clearly a call for the destruction of the State of Israel and serves as an anti-Semitic accusation” — and urged the social media company to reject the Oversight Board’s decision.

“We urge Meta and the Oversight Board to reconsider this decision and take swift action to ensure that this phrase is not used on their platform to promote anti-Semitic hatred online,” lawmakers said. “We also call on Meta to provide more information about the steps it is proactively taking to ensure that all users feel safe from hate and harassment when using Meta’s products.”

The lawmakers stressed that the slogan has long been used as a rallying cry by a range of terrorist groups and leaders “to point to their goal of eradicating the State of Israel and destroying the Jewish people,” and that it has been used since October 7 to “intimidate Jewish students and praise the actions of Hamas.”

They stressed that Jews are increasingly being harassed online and that many Jews hide their faith online for fear of such harassment. The lawmakers added that “online hate leads to real-life violence,” adding that “individuals are being radicalized on social media at an increasingly younger age, before they have the knowledge or context to form informed opinions on complex topics.”

Signatories of the letter include Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Don Davis (D-NC), Dina Titus (D-NV), Don Bacon (R-NE), Tom Kean (R-NJ), Susie Lee (D-NV), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), and Jim Costa (D-CA).

The Anti-Defamation League supported the letter. Joel Cohen, director of government relations for the ADL, said in a statement to Jewish Insider that the Supervisory Board’s decision is “very worrying”.

“This phrase is not just a slogan; it is an anti-Semitic rallying cry long used by terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah that seek the expulsion of millions of Jews and the destruction of the State of Israel,” Cohen said. “The Oversight Board’s assertion that the phrase has ‘multiple meanings’ dangerously ignores the well-documented history of incitement and hatred. Regardless of its intent, the phrase makes Jewish communities feel unsafe and its use should be classified as hate speech. We thank Congress for taking this bipartisan stand against online anti-Semitic hate speech.”