Ten Democrats and six Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, expressing opprobrium over a decision for the platform to permit the usage of language that advocates for the annihilation of the Jewish state.
“We write to you today to express outrage with the Oversight Board’s decision that the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ does not violate Meta’s rules on hate speech, violence and incitement, or dangerous organizations and individuals,” the legislators wrote on Wednesday. “Earlier this year, Congress voted in a resounding bipartisan fashion to condemn the use of this phrase and deemed it antisemitic.”
Co-signers of the letter included Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Don Davis (D-N.C.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Tom Kean (R-N.J.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).
“Meta’s failure to act on this phrase is another example of social-media companies taking one step forward, and two steps back. ‘From the river to the sea’ is not a political statement; it is an open call for the complete eradication of the Jewish state,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League.
He said that while the ADL welcomed the Oversight Board’s decision on understanding the usage of “Zionist” to sometimes slur Jews, this ruling “erred in deeming this call for the destruction of the Jewish state as an acceptable form of speech on their platforms.”
The Congress members wrote that they “strongly urge Meta to reject this guidance for its platforms and take the proactive step to deem this phrase hate speech.”
