Facebook said it will temporarily ease its policy on violent speech and allow some posts on hostility against Russian invaders as the war in Ukraine rages on.
Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram revealed that it 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.
Facebook will also temporarily allow 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.
Controversy
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.
BizWatch Nigeria had reported that 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.
