Facebook and Instagram will now allow users in certain countries to call for violence against Russia and Russian military forces
The change in the social media giant’s hate speech policy comes as the war in Ukraine enters its third week.
Internal emails suggest Meta will also allow some posts that call for the death of Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
The countries where this updated policy applies include Russia, Ukraine and Poland.
In a statement, the company says as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine they’ve temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech.
“We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,”
she says.
This follows Russia announcing it has banned Facebook in the country, while cracking down on tech companies, including Twitter.
Several social media platforms have already announced content restrictions around the conflict, including blocking Russian state media RT and Sputnik in Europe.
Savannah Pocock contributed to this article
