Case Description
In May 2024, two Facebook users separately posted images showing the former national flag of South Africa. This flag, which became associated with the country’s apartheid system of racial segregation, was replaced in 1994 by a new national flag. The two Facebook posts were shared in the run-up to South Africa’s General Election on May 29, 2024, during which immigration, inequalities and unemployment were key issues.
The first post shows a soldier carrying the pre-1994 flag. The image, which appears to have been taken during the apartheid years (1948-1994), is accompanied by a caption encouraging others to share the post if they “served under this flag.” The content was viewed more than 500,000 times and shared more than 5,000 times. The post received numerous comments, with many suggesting that South Africa was a safer country during apartheid, while others emphasized the suffering experienced by people during those years. By the time the Board selected this case, three users had reported the content to Meta, for hate speech and violence. Following human review, the content was found to be non-violating and left on Facebook.
The second post contains multiple images of a previous era, including the country’s former flag, a nostalgic picture of a seaside theme park, a packet of candy cigarettes, a toy gun and a black man on a bicycle ice cream cart, with white children next to him. The caption expresses fondness for the previous era and asks the audience to “read between the lines,” followed by a winking face and an “OK” hand emoji. While in most instances, the OK hand emoji is used by people to show approval or agree that something is okay, this symbol has been adopted by some as an expression of white supremacy. The post was viewed more than 2 million times and shared over a thousand times. Many users commented on the post, positively describing life during apartheid, including on law and order. Other comments noted that it was not a good time for all. Within a week of posting, 184 users reported the content, mostly for hate speech. Some of the reports were reviewed by human reviewers, who determined that the content did not violate the Community Standards. The remaining reports were processed through a combination of automated systems and prior human review decisions. The content was kept up on the platform.
When the Board selected this content, Meta’s policy subject matter experts reviewed both posts again and the company confirmed that its original decisions to keep both pieces of content up on Facebook were correct.
In their statement to the Board, the user who reported the first post stated that South Africa’s former flag is comparable to the German Nazi flag and that “brazenly displaying” it “incites violence” because the country is still reeling from the impact of “this crime against humanity [apartheid].” The user also stated that sharing such images during an election period can encourage racial hatred and endanger lives. Similarly, the user who reported the second post explained that the “context of the post suggests” apartheid was a “better time” for South Africans and that such use of the flag is illegal. The user also emphasized how the former flag represents oppression.
The Board selected these cases to address the issue of glorifying or praising hateful or racial supremacist ideologies, including through the use of symbols, especially in the lead-up to an election. Such content can have public interest value, e.g., to raise awareness about or condemn an issue, but it may also be used to glorify or incite racial discrimination or violence. These cases, which provide an opportunity to evaluate Meta’s current approach on this issue, fall within the Board’s strategic priorities of Elections and Civic Space and Hate Speech.
The Board would appreciate public comments that address:
- The sociopolitical context in South Africa, in particular the nature of public and political discourse around apartheid and racial inequality, including in the lead-up to the 2024 elections, the impact of displaying the apartheid flag since 1994, and the role of supremacist and apartheid-sympathetic groups in social and political life.
- The coded use of online symbols, such as the ‘OK’ hand emoji and other symbols adopted by white supremacist groups on social media in South Africa and/or globally.
- Approaches to moderating visual content involving potential implicit attacks against groups with protected characteristics, particularly in contexts where there is a history of racial segregation.
- Risks of over-enforcement of removing hate symbols at scale, as well as analysis of least intrusive means among digital tools (beyond removals and geoblocking) that are available in content moderation to address hate symbols.
As part of its decisions, the Board can issue policy recommendations to Meta. While recommendations are not binding, Meta must respond to them within 60 days. As such, the Board welcomes public comments proposing recommendations that are relevant to these cases.
Comments
This is part of our history and should not be seen as a apartheid flag, but just the flag we had before... i don't understand why an old flag can offend people, but it is okay for people to chant and sing "kill the boer" it's just a flag and and is part of our hisory whether you like it or not. Don't sensor us!
The flags used in South Africa are part of history. Why should anyone be prevented from using any flag of any era? South Africa has had 5 different flags since 1910 when it became a union!
Which other country, where they've had more than one flag since it became a country, is prevented from sharing/displaying any of those flags?
The South African flag that was used from 1928 to 1994 should never be banned. It's part of the country's history!
The apartheid flag does not reflect the South Africa of today where everyone has rights that are enshrined in the Constitution. Displaying that flag brings up the hurt of most South Africans. That flag reminds me of the bad days when I was not considered human. I have lived through the era of apartheid and would not want to be reminded of the pain that the flag represents.
The old South African Flag is part of South African history. Why should it be removed? It shouldn't as it is a symbol of what was and what should never be again.
In history North and South America fought against slavery, yet I don't see the flags being banned as it was part of history. Should The French flag, the German flag, the UK flag, the Australian flag and the Russian Flags be banned due to the atrocities they committed in history. The old South African Flag is part and always will be part of history it doesn't matter what others say "it will always remain part of South Africa's history". (Good or Bad)
The Oversight Board should rather look at the man promoting the killing of white people and farmers by using Meta "WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram to spread the word". The Oversight Board should rather look at the South African Cabinet and all the previous and current Ministers supporting terrorists and using all means to spread their support for terrorists. That is more of a concern than a flag that is part of history.
It is a bigger concern when Countries send funds/aid/ investment to South Africa and the President and his Ministers steal every sent and support terrorists.
The Oversight Board should remember that the old South African flag is and will always be part of history even if you ban it on Meta platforms just like the flags of North and South America.
Keep it, its history, plain and simple.
The "apartheid-era" flag should not be banned from Facebook. First of all, it is not an apartheid era flag, but the 1928 flag. It should not be hailed as a flag of a better era where we should return to though. NEVER. Most important, apply the same parameters you apply to this flag to the Union Jack, or the flags of England or the Netherlands. Apartheid and segregation were British legal inventions. I mean, with few exceptions, racial segregation laws were implemented under the British flags, more people were killed due to their race (20 000 black people in 1900-1901 alone in British concentration camps of South Africa), under the British flags public schools for black people were illegal and less than 10% of black people received education in mission schools, under the British flag racist "Bantustans" existed and were called "Bantu reserves", whole Kingdoms such as the Zulu Kingdom were destroyed. So, whatever you decide, be fair and scientific, apply the same measures to all flags, ban the British, French, Dutch flags from Facebook too.
Banning a flag will not eliminate or reduce racism. Banning hate speech by political leaders will reduce racism. In South Africa, authorities often allow black radical leaders to blatantly make hate speeches like "Kill the farmers" or "Kill the whites", without prosecuting these individuals, in spite of specific laws against it as well the Constitution clearly prohibiting it. Addressing the real issues of racism, such as publicly spreading misleading and false statements, will do much more to educate people, than banning a flag. The ANC and especially the EFF political parties are especially guilty of inciting racism.
As per the old adage; we cannot change history, we can only learn from it so as not to make the same mistakes again.
In that vein, banning a flag does nothing to correct the injustices of the past, nor does it prevent the same thing from happening again.
History is just that - history.
It's in the past, move on, but never forget in order to prevent it from happening again!
Prescribing a ban on posts of a historical Flag of a country, denies a truth of the past as well as a departure point from which the new dispensation began. Will the same be applied to Soviet flags?
The old South African flag has nothing to do with Apartheid. The design and colours represent the history of the whole country from colonization to independence. Not just the ideology that ruled for a small part of History. It should not be banned anywhere its part of history.
The flag is part of history (whether anybody likes it or not). The flag is NOT the apartheid era flag. The flag was created between 1910 and 1928 predating apartheid by at least 20 yrs. It was flown during WW1 and WW2 and is part of world history. It is also part of South African history during numerous world events.
It was only replaced after the 1994 election.
So, unless South African history is to be rewritten and all events from 1948 to 1994 is to be deleted the flag should be retained so that everybody can remember what happened and remind us not to repeat past mistakes in the future.
Neither Meta, nor any other organisation, has the right to determine what is and what is not important for a certain group of people. While I personally do not connect myself to any flag or emblem of any secular group, those people have the right to display whatever they want, something they associate with.
Every group of people have their own customs, clothing, culture and even specific items which make them what they are. To ban a flag or other item, is just as good as to tell cowboys not to wear hats or ride horses. People who take offense at anything that another culture or group of people do, are those who suffer a low self-esteem and cannot rid themselves of things they may have done wrong in their own past.
In a world that is supposed to be free, let every nation live as they please, without barring what works for them. This is what creates rebellion and strife, of which the world has more than enough. Stop interfering in the lives of others and let people get on with makes them a people, whether it be flags, emblems, clothing and their own language. If this offends you, go get a new life on another planet.
IT IS MY HERITAGE.
IT IS MY HISTORY.
IF A FLAG IS DIPLAYED IN A PHOTGRAPH 30 YEARS OLD, HOW CAN IT BE PROVOCATIVE?
What about freedom of speech and expression? Not all South Africans were pro apartheid, and it's not hate speech, it's about love for the old flag and to reminisce about old times.
Freedom of speech for everyone. Many feel passionate about the old flag and the old national anthem, those that want to post the flag, that is their belief system and really not necessarily the view point of most south Africans, so we just ignore it and move on. And so should you!!!