Facebook, Instagram 'temporarily' allow calls for violence against Russians. UPDATE: Russia blocks Instagram and Facebook

Nick Monroe
Post Millenial
Thu, 10 Mar 2022 23:10 UTC

UPDATE: Meta has since released a statement saying they'd "still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians."

Reuters has since changed their headline to say "invading Russians" in particular.

Original story is as follows below:

Meta's Facebook and Instagram on Thursday have made changes to their hate speech policy to allow for calls of violence against Russians and Russian soldiers amidst the Ukraine invasion.

In an exclusive from Reuters, they cite "internal emails" to content moderators about the updated revision. The outlet adds that calls for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will be allowed to stay up on the platform within areas like Poland, Russia, and Ukraine.

The only time the company is said to take action against the aforementioned posts unless they have "two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method."

At the start of the Russia - Ukraine conflict, The Intercept revealed how Facebook decided to allow praise for the alleged Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, as well. Previously the group was labeled under "Dangerous Individuals and Organizations," which the platform strictly moderates discussions on.

Comment: The same Azov Batallion that as Rebel News notes has been "accused by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of committing war crimes, including sexual violence and torture."

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

Last week, Meta released a public statement regarding how they were responding to the Ukraine invasion. In response to the crackdown on alleged Russian "misinformation" and the curtailment of outlets like Russia Today and Sputnik News.

In response, this led to Putin blocking access to Facebook for Russian citizens. It's unclear how this latest policy change from Meta's end will factor with that, going forward.

Mutual reactions of shock to the Reuters story have since cropped up:

"Is Facebook, by acting as a sovereign and declaring Russians belligerents should be killed, tagging itself as a participant in a hot war? Has anyone at Facebook thought through this?"

"If you're willing to adjust your principles in a crisis, they weren't really principles."

"Yet Donald Trump is still banned."

Other recent additions to Facebook in the "misinformation" vein include auto-filters for posts linking to things flagged by fact-checkers. The alternative search engine DuckDuckGo separately revealed their intentions to downgrade "Russia disinformation" sites in their results display, going forward.

In terms of perspective - it was at the beginning of February that the social media giant banned a group promoting an American trucker's convoy protest, given the widespread attention given by the Canadian government to the one then ongoing in Canada.

Comment: Rebel News reports further:

"The emails said calls for violence against Russians are allowed when the post is clearly talking about the invasion of 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 of war."

It is unclear how the content moderators will be able to differentiate general calls for violence against those of Russian descent, such as members of the country's diaspora in Europe, Asia, and North America.

The temporary policy changes reportedly apply to Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Russia and Ukraine.

Russia's embassy issued a statement on Twitter:

UPDATE 11/03/2022: RKN has blocked access to Facebook and Instagram in Russia and the Prosecutor General's office is seeking to label Meta as an extremist entity following Meta's policy changes:

Russian media regulator RKN said on Friday it has demanded from Meta either a formal confirmation or denial of the reports about its hate-speech policy reversal.

The Prosecutor General's office decided not to wait for a confirmation, however. In addition to seeking a court order to label Meta an extremist entity, it ordered RKN to block access to Facebook and Instagram in Russia.

Meta was quick to clarify that the new policy would only apply in Ukraine, which, as FOX News pointed out, suggests a change in the policy "as it was initially reported that it applied to several European nations, including Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Russia and Ukraine - not just Ukraine as the Meta executive indicated."

Maria Zakharova commented on Clegg's post on her Facebook page:

Nick Klegg on the fact that Meta company will not block calls for violence against Russian citizens: "We intend to apply this policy only in Ukraine."Xenophobia knows no bounds. Internet xenophobia, even more so. For many years, nationalism has been growing in the territory of Ukraine and has been encouraged by the West. We are all observing the result of such a policy today.It's time to draw conclusions and use all resources, first of all information, to prevent the incitement of hate. US digital platforms bear direct responsibility for encouraging nationalism in Ukraine.