DUBAI: Meta鈥檚 Oversight Board ruled on Wednesday that posts with the phrase 鈥渇rom the river to the sea鈥� do not necessarily violate the company鈥檚 policies and therefore should not automatically be removed.

The independent board reviewed three Facebook posts containing the pro-Palestinian phrase. Meta had decided to keep the posts up after users wanted them removed, leading to an appeal.

On Wednesday, the board concluded its review and said it upholds Meta鈥檚 decision to leave the posts up. And found that they did not violate the company鈥檚 rules on hate speech, violence and incitement, or support of dangerous organizations and individuals.

The three posts contain 鈥渃ontextual signs of solidarity with Palestinians鈥� and 鈥渄o not glorify or even refer to Hamas, an organization designated as dangerous by Meta,鈥� the board stated.

While a majority of the board believes that the phrase has multiple meanings, a minority believes that its use in a post should 鈥渂e presumed to constitute glorification of a designated entity, unless there are clear signals to the contrary.鈥�

This minority view was based on the phrase鈥檚 presence in the 2017 Hamas charter and in light of the October 2023 attacks.

The board acknowledged that the phrase was often used as a 鈥減olitical call for solidarity, equal rights and self-determination of the Palestinian people, and to end the war in Gaza,鈥� and therefore 鈥渃annot be understood as a call to violence against a group.鈥�

It argued that Hamas鈥� use of the phrase does not make it inherently violent or hateful, and because it is used in a variety of different ways, a 鈥渂lanket ban鈥� would hinder 鈥減rotected political speech.鈥�

In addition to upholding Meta鈥檚 decision to leave the posts up, the board also advocated for better data access to independently monitor Meta鈥檚 moderation.

For example, it said that it used Meta鈥檚 public data analysis tool CrowdTangle for some research during the case. Meta discontinued the tool in August and directed users to the Meta Content Library.

The board said it was concerned with 鈥淢eta鈥檚 decision to shut down the tool while there are questions over the newer Meta Content Library as an adequate replacement.鈥�

In addition, the board recommended that Meta process applications for access to its Content Library in a timely manner and ensure it was a suitable replacement for CrowdTangle.

The board also said the ability to assess the extent of the surge in antisemitic, Islamophobic, racist and hateful content on Meta鈥檚 platforms remains limited.

As such, it urged Meta to fully implement a recommendation from consultancy Business for Social Responsibility鈥檚 鈥淗uman Rights Due Diligence鈥� report.

This states that Meta should 鈥渄evelop a mechanism to track the prevalence of content鈥� which constitutes antisemitic, Islamophobic, anti-Arab, and homophobic attacks.