Meta may be walking back a temporary exemption that let Facebook users in Ukraine call for Russian President Putin’s death. Reuters claims to have seen an internal post from Meta global affairs President Nick Clegg indicating the company was “narrowing” its moderation to make clear that it wouldn’t allow calls for the death of any head of state. While Meta didn’t appear to have changed its mind on Russian soldiers, the firm also wanted to make it “explicitly clear” that hate speech and threats against the general Russian population were also forbidden.
When asked for comment, Meta confirmed the new policy to Engadget but didn’t add details. Clegg said Meta would share the change in policy with the Oversight Board that helps shape the social media giant’s moderation practices.
The rethink comes just as Russia has banned Instagram in response to Meta’s earlier stance on calls for violence. The country had already blocked Facebook, but Interfax and Reuters reported that state prosecutors had called on a court to label Meta as an “extremist organization” with that previous company policy in mind.
We wouldn’t count on Russia lifting any bans following Meta’s revised approach. The state has blocked or limited multiple foreign internet services to stifle political dissent, including Twitter and Zello, and CNBC said prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation of the company in answer to the previous Ukraine policy. Meta doesn’t have much support in the Kremlin, and that opinion is unlikely to change any time soon.
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