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Facebook OKs Some Calls for Violence Against Putin, Russians

The shift in hate speech policy will be applied only to a select number of European countries, including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, and Ukraine.

Facebook and Instagram users will be allowed to call for violence against Russians—but only in a select number of European countries and only in clear reference to the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails to Meta’s comment moderators viewed by Reuters. The temporary shift in the company’s hate speech policy will also allow posts that express support for the deaths of President Vladimir Putin or his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko. The updated policy will apply to users in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Slovakia, among a few others. In order for posts calling for violence against Putin or Lukashenko to pass muster, they must contain fewer than “two indicators of credibility,” such as specific details of an assassination plan like location or method, according to Reuters. A post must also not target leaders other than the Russian or Belarusian presidents. Meta’s decision follows a quiet update by Twitter to its own rules regarding violent threats. An internal memo reported by The Daily Beast earlier this week indicated that Twitter, in light of the invasion, would take “No Action” against anyone calling for “serious harm” to the Russian government or its soldiers.