Opening Pandora's box? Facebook allows calls for violence and death against 'Russian invaders'
In response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Facebook has temporarily relaxed its ban on violent speech, allowing statements such as "death to Russian invaders" but not credible threats against civilians.
As a result of Moscow's war on its neighbour, Western governments and businesses have imposed unprecedented sanctions, but there has also been a surge in online anger over social media's role in the conflict.
Despite the immediate controversy, Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta, defended its policy decision.
"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,'" Meta said in a statement.
"We still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians," it added.
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As one of the world's leading social media companies, Meta has previously struggled to decide what to allow people to post in times of upheaval.
During protests that rocked Iran during July 2021, the company had temporarily allowed posts calling for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death.
Platforms like Twitter and Facebook have had to navigate a myriad of thorny issues related to the war in Ukraine, like when US Senator Lindsey Graham called for the murder of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a televised interview and on Twitter.
"The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out," Graham wrote in a tweet on March 3, which Twitter has not removed.
Views on Meta's decision were sharply divided.
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Emerson Brooking, a disinformation expert at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, said that "the policy regards calls for violence against Russian soldiers".
"A call for violence here, by the way is also a call for resistance because Ukrainians resist a violent invasion," he added.
However, some expressed deep concerns, such as Lehigh University professor Jeremy Littau, who tweeted "'We don't allow hate speech except against certain people from a certain country' is one hell of a can of worms."
(With inputs from agencies)
