Meta has announced that the antisemitic slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” does not violate the platform’s rules against hate speech.

The social media giant reviewed three cases in question, all dating back to November at the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. In each instance, Facebook users reported the antisemitic phrase, claiming it violated the platform’s rules about hate speech and incitement. The number of users reporting the slogan varied across the cases, with one post receiving 951 reports.

“From the River to the Sea” is a rallying cry for terrorist organizations and their supporters, from Hamas to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). It calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, thereby erasing the Jewish State and its people.

Despite the complaints, Facebook did not remove the posts. Initially, automated systems handled the complaints, and when they reached human moderators, they determined that the phrase did not violate any rules.

As a result, users petitioned Meta’s Oversight Board, an independent body that operates similarly to a court by hearing appeals about content decisions on Facebook and Instagram. However, in Wednesday’s ruling, Meta gave the green light for antisemitic agitators to keep chanting as long as they do not “glorify or reference” Hamas in their posts.

“In upholding Meta’s decisions to keep up the content, the majority of the board notes the phrase has multiple meanings and is used by people in various ways and with different intentions,” the announcement states.

“A minority, however, believes that because the phrase appears in the 2017 Hamas charter and given the October 7 attacks, its use in a post should be presumed to constitute glorification of a designated entity, unless there are clear signals to the contrary.”