Zuck’s War: Facebook Okays Calls for Violence Against Russians

Mark Zuckerberg Smiles during testimony (Pool/Getty)
Pool/Getty
Allum Bokhari

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, sent an email to employees of both social media platforms informing them that calls for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers will temporarily be allowed, according to a report by Reuters.

Via Reuters:

The social media company is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, according to internal emails to its content moderators.

“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.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives at the European Parliament, prior to his audition on the data privacy scandal on May 22, 2018 at the European Union headquarters in Brussels. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives at the European (Parliament, prior to his audition on the data privacy scandal on May 22, 2018 at the European Union headquarters in Brussels. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

According to Reuters, the email from Meta allowed calls for violence against both Russian soldiers and Russians, as long as the context of the invasion of Ukraine was clear:

“We are issuing a spirit-of-the-policy allowance to allow T1 violent speech that would otherwise be removed under the Hate Speech policy when: (a) targeting Russian soldiers, EXCEPT prisoners of war, or (b) targeting Russians where it’s clear that the context is the Russian invasion of Ukraine (e.g., content mentions the invasion, self-defense, etc.),” it said in the email.

The Russian embassy in the United States blasted the far-left Silicon Valley company in the wake of Reuters’ report.

“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,” said the Russian embassy in a tweeted statement.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald criticized the Masters of the Universe, pointing out it should be up to Mark Zuckerberg and a small group of other tech executives to decide “when we can advocate violence against certain people and when we can’t.”

Last week, Russia blocked access to Facebook and Twitter across the country in response to those platforms restricting Russian media outlets including RT and Sputnik.

The Intercept reported in February that Facebook had rescinded its ban on discussion of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which had previously been banned under its Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy.

Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.

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