Facebook Allows Hate Speech Against Russia In Context Of Invasion Of Ukraine

JAKARTA – Meta Platforms Inc., will allow Facebook and Instagram users in several countries to denounce violence against Russia and the Russian army in the context of the invasion of Ukraine. This statement appeared in an internal email memo about a temporary change to the platform's hate speech policy on Thursday, March 10.

Facebook has also temporarily allowed some posts calling for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.

"As a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we are temporarily allowing forms of political expression that normally violate our rules such as violent speeches such as 'kill the Russian invaders'. We will still not allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians," Meta spokesman spoke in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.

Calls for the deaths of leaders will be permitted unless they contain another target or have two credibility indicators, such as location or method, in recent changes to Facebook's rules on violence and incitement.

The emails say calls for violence against Russia are allowed when the posts clearly speak of their invasion of Ukraine. They said calls for violence against Russian soldiers were allowed because it was used as a proxy for the Russian military, and said it would not apply to prisoners of war.

A temporary policy change on calls for violence against Russian troops applies in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

Last week, Russia said it had banned Facebook in the country in response to what it said were restrictions on access to Russian media on the platform. Moscow has cracked down on technology companies, including Twitter, which it says have been restricted in the country.

Many major social media platforms have announced new content restrictions around the conflict, including blocking Russian state media RT and Sputnik in Europe. This media is accused of showing deviations in some of their policies during the war.

The emails also indicated that Meta would allow praise from Azov's far-right battalion, which is normally banned, in a change, as first reported by The Intercept.

Meta spokesman Joe Osborne previously said the company "for now, makes a narrow exception to praise the Azov Regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukrainian National Guard."