Facebook says it will temporarily ease its policy on violent speech and allow some calls for hostility against Russian invaders as the war in Ukraine rages on.
This, according to Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, will allow users in some countries to use violent speech like “death to the Russian invaders” — which would normally break its rules — against President Vladimir Putin and his troops.
According to Reuters, the social media giant is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
It, however, said the death threat or hate speech won’t be acceptable if it is against civilians.
“As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.
The policy was, however, met with controversy — with the tech giant also defending its decision.
In its reaction, Russia’s embassy in the United States called on Washington to stop the “extremist activities” of Meta.
“Users of Facebook & Instagram did not give the owners of these platforms the right to determine the criteria of truth and pit nations against each other,” the embassy wrote on Twitter.
☝️We demand that 🇺🇸 authorities stop the extremist activities of @Meta, take measures to bring the perpetrators to justice. Users of #Facebook & #Instagram did not give the owners of these platforms the right to determine the criteria of truth and pit nations against each other. https://t.co/1RkrjRmEtA pic.twitter.com/sTacSm4nDt
— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) March 11, 2022
In the past few days, global corporations, including car manufacturers and energy giants, have cut business ties with Russia.
Facebook and other US tech giants have also penalised Russia for invading Ukraine, while the Kremlin has also moved to block access to the leading social media network as well as Twitter.
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