Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has announced changes to its posting policies due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The company will temporarily allow the publication of violent comments and with incitement to hatred against and Russian soldiers and Russia, something that would normally violate their community rules.
It will also allow posts wishing for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Meta will not censor messages with kill requests for both leaders unless they contain other targets or credibility indicators, such as location or form.
Likewise, calls for violence against Russian soldiers will be allowed when the publication speaks clearly about the invasion of Ukraine. Also, posts calling for violence against Russian soldiers are allowed, but not those against prisoners of war.
“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. Although we will not allow calls for violence against Russian civilians,” Meta spokesman Andy Stone said on Twitter.
Our statement on what’s happening: pic.twitter.com/UQqb3vQeep
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) March 10, 2022
These temporary changes apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
In response to these measures taken by Meta, the Russian embassy in the US demands that Washington act against what they call “extremist activities”. According to the embassy, the company’s actions are “further evidence of the information war declared against our country.”
A day after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country announced a “partial restriction” on access to Facebook. The Kremlin accused the social network of censoring several related media.
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