Facebook and Instagram platforms will allow users in some countries to call for violence against Russia and Russian soldiers in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, according to Reuters, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy.
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The social media company is also temporarily allowing some posts calling for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to internal emails to its content moderators.
“As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have temporarily allowed forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules, such as violent speech, such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still do not allow calls for violence against Russian civilians,” a Meta spokesperson said.
Calls for the death of leaders will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two credibility indicators, such as location or method, an email said, in a recent change to the company's rules on violence and incitement.
Temporary policy changes for calls for violence against Russian soldiers apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
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In a recent email to moderators, Meta (FB) highlighted a change in its hate speech policy, which concerns both Russian soldiers and Russians in the context of the invasion.
“We are doing this because we have observed that in this particular context, ‘Russian soldiers’ are being used as proxies for the Russian military. The hate speech policy continues to prohibit attacks on Russian citizens,” the email said.
Last week, Russia said it was banning Facebook in the country in response to restrictions on Russian media access to the platform. Moscow has cracked down on technology companies, including Twitter TWTR.N, which it said was restricted in the country, during its invasion of Ukraine, which it calls a “special operation.”
Many major social media platforms have announced new content restrictions related to the invasion, including blocking Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik in Europe, and have shown a shift in some of their policies during the war.
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The emails also showed that Meta would allow praise of the right-wing Azov battalion, something that is usually prohibited, in a change first reported by The Intercept.
Meta spokesman Joe Osborne previously said the company "is currently making a small exception for praising the Azov Regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine or in their role as part of the Ukrainian National Guard."
