Meta’s platforms will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, according to internal correspondence seen by Reuters.
EXCLUSIVE Facebook and Instagram to temporarily allow calls for violence against Russians https://t.co/dhcObdoDk6 pic.twitter.com/QVokunNzyx
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 10, 2022
This is a temporary change in the hate speech policy.
The social media company is temporarily allowing some posts in Russia, Ukraine and Poland calling for the deaths of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, according to a series of internal emails to content moderators in Europe.
Last week, Russia announced that Facebook is banned in the country in response to restrictions on access to Russian media on the platform.
Internal emails also show that the right-wing Ukrainian battalion ‘Azov’, will be allowed to be praised, which is usually banned. Joe Osborne, Meta’s spokesman, had previously said that the company was making a small exception to praising ‘Azov’ in the context of its involvement in defending Ukraine and its role as part of the Ukrainian National Guard.