EVERYTHING IN MODERATION

Facebook: Brazil Riot Praise Banned, ‘Death to Khamenei’ Posts Are OK

Meta has been making some huge content moderation calls.

Facebook posts containing the phrase “death to Khamenei” should be allowed on the platform, Meta’s Oversight Board ruled on Monday, while Meta separately announced it was removing content which supported or praised the anti-democratic riots in Brazil over the weekend. The content moderation panel overturned a prohibition on the phrase referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because the slogan is often used to mean “down with Khamenei” by protesters who have faced months of brutal crackdowns across the country recently. “It is a rhetorical, political slogan, not a credible threat,” the board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, wrote. A Meta spokesperson separately on Monday told Reuters that it had been “removing content calling for people to take up arms or forcibly invade Congress, the Presidential palace and other federal buildings,” in Brazil ahead of the election. The spokesperson added that in the wake of the ugly scenes carried out by Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters in Brasília on Sunday, Facebook will “remove content that supports or praises these actions.”