Facebook, Instagram now allow hate speech against Russia
Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, has announced a temporary change to its hate speech policy which will now allow calls for violence against Russia, according to a Reuters report.
"As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as 'death to the Russian invaders.' We still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
Posts that call for violence against Russia, Russian soldiers, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will be permitted.
However, only the citizens of certain countries are granted permission by Meta to post the hate speech, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
The Russian embassy demanded that Washington reign in the social media giant.
“We demand that authorities stop the extremist activities of @Meta, take measures to bring the perpetrators to justice,” wrote the embassy in a tweet. “Users of #Facebook & #Instagram did not give the owners of these platforms the right to determine the criteria of truth and pit nations against each other.”
Meta, which sees itself as an arbiter of justice, has been known to be heavy-handed with its hate speech rules for its political opponents, but not others who qualify to be removed from its platforms.
After a pro-Trump crowd breached the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, Facebook and Instagram, along with Twitter and YouTube, permanently banned former President Donald Trump from their platforms. Despite the fact that Trump had urged his supporters to be “peaceful”, the tech companies suspended him indefinitely, accusing him of challenging the 2020 election results and contributing to “the risk of ongoing violence.”
But Hillary Clinton, who called the 2016 election results “stolen”, has yet to be banned from Facebook or Instagram.
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini, who called for Israel’s destruction and promotes the terror organization Hezbollah, has yet to be banned from Facebook or Instagram.
Actress Kathy Griffin, who notoriously released a photo of herself holding a bloodied, severed head of Trump in 2017, has yet to be banned from either platform.
Actor Johnny Depp, who called for Trump’s assassination, has yet to be banned from either platform.
The list of those who have called for violence is extensive, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, rapper Snoop Dogg, actor Robert DeNiro, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and others.
However, as these calls for violence were directed at Meta’s political enemies, these individuals have not been banned from Facebook or Instagram.
