3 yıl önce

Meta allows calls for Putin's death on Facebook, Instagram in policy tweak

Global tech giant Meta bends its rules regarding violent speech on its platforms, allowing statements like "death to Russian invaders" in reaction to Moscow's assault on Ukraine.

Reuters

"We have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules," Meta says.

Facebook and Instagram users in some countries will be allowed to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of Moscow's assault on Ukraine, said Meta and the company's internal emails, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy.

"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 social media company is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to a series of internal emails seen by Reuters news agency to its content moderators.

The calls for the leaders' deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method, one email said, in a recent change to the company's rules on violence and incitement.

The emails said calls for violence against Russians are allowed when the post is clearly talking about the attack on Ukraine.

They said the calls for violence against Russian soldiers were allowed because this was being used as a proxy for the Russian military and said it would not apply to prisoners.

Allowed in ex-Soviet republics

The temporary policy changes on calls for violence to Russian soldiers apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, according to one email.

Last week, Russia said it was banning Facebook in the country in response to what it said were restrictions of access to Russian media on the platform.

Moscow has cracked down on tech companies, including Twitter, which said it is restricted in the country, during its incursion of Ukraine, which it calls a "special operation."

Many major social media platforms have announced new content restrictions around the conflict, including blocking Russian state media RT and Sputnik in Europe, and have demonstrated carve-outs in some of their policies during the conflict.

Emails also showed that Meta would allow praise of the right-wing Azov battalion, which is normally prohibited, in a change first reported by The Intercept.

Meta spokesman Joe Osborne previously said the company was "for the time being, making a narrow exception for the praise of the Azov Regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard."

SOURCE: Reuters