Cartoons About College Protests
UPDATED 12 SEP 2024
2024-050-FB-UA, 2024-051-FB-UA
We welcome the Oversight Board’s decision today, September 12, 2024, on this case bundle which deals with cartoons that were posted in the context of college protests over the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.
The first case concerns a cartoon posted to Facebook that depicts two people. The first person is wearing a headband with 'Hamas' written on it and is holding a weapon. The person is saying that they will kill Jewish people until Israel is "wiped off the map." The second person is dressed in a T-shirt with "college" written on it. That person is holding a book and saying, "It's obvious they just want to live in peace."
The second case also concerns a cartoon posted to Facebook and depicts a family eating together. In the cartoon, the son figure is made to look like Adolf Hitler and is wearing a shirt emblazoned “I [heart] Hamas.” The father figure expresses concern about how college has changed his son.
Upon initial review, Meta removed this content for violating our Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy, as laid out in the Facebook Community Standards. However, after the Board brought the case to our attention, we determined that we had removed the content in error and reinstated each post.
There will be no further updates to this case.
Read the board’s case decision summary