JAKARTA - Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. has briefly restricted hashtags related to civilian deaths in northern Ukraine. In the area, the bodies of people shot at close range were found in a town that has now been recaptured by Ukrainian forces from Russian troops. This was confirmed by a spokesperson for Meta on Monday, March 4.
As reported by Reuters, the killings in Bucha, outside Kyiv, have drawn promises of further sanctions against Moscow from the West. Russia has denied accusations of killing civilians.
Up: Jewish residents of Iasi, Romania, murdered by the Nazi allies in June 1941. Killed because they were Jewish.Bottom: Residents of Bucha, Ukraine, murdered by Russian soldiers in March 2022. Killed because they were Ukrainians. pic.twitter.com/C31ZpJ2ryR
— Olga Rudenko (@olya_rudenko) April 3, 2022
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said an automated system that scans violent images on Facebook and Instagram, which the company also owns, was responsible for blocking hashtags including #bucha and #buchamassacre.
"This happens automatically due to graphic content that people post using this hashtag. When we became aware of this issue yesterday, we acted quickly to unblock the hashtag," he wrote on Twitter.
Facebook and Instagram allow posting of graphic and violent content when shared to raise awareness of possible human rights abuses. However, they will remove content if it is seen as very explicit or simply celebrating suffering.
The social media company is also adding warning labels to some graphic posts that users have to click on before they can view the image.
Human rights groups have criticized Meta's approach to removing violent content during conflict, saying its practice of clearing data from its servers after 90 days resulted in the removal of important evidence of war crimes.
Stone said Meta is "exploring ways to preserve this and other types of content as we remove it," particularly in light of the war in Ukraine.
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