Facebook eases rules allowing violent speech against ‘Russian invaders’

Facebook said Thursday that it has temporarily suspended its rules on violent speech due to the Russian invasion of Ukraineallowing statements like “death to the Russian invaders but no real threats against civilians.

As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukrainewe have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would ordinarily violate our rules, such as violent speech such as “death to the Russian invaders”, explained Meta, Facebook’s parent company, in a statement.

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Moscow’s attack on UkraineInternationally condemned, it has prompted unprecedented sanctions from Western governments and businesses, as well as a surge of anger on the internet.

“We continue to not allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” added the text.

Facebook spoke out after the Reuters news agency reported, citing emails from the firm to its content moderators, specifying that the policy applied to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, RussiaSlovakia and Ukraine.

Facebook and other US tech giants have moved to penalize Russia for his offense. Meanwhile, Moscow has also moved to block access to this leading social network, as well as Twitter.

In this way, Russia it joins a small group of countries that exclude Facebook, along with China and North Korea.

Since the invasion of Ukraine began last month, Russian authorities have increased pressure on independent media outlets at a time when press freedom in the country was rapidly declining.

Last week’s Facebook blocking and Twitter restriction came on the same day that Moscow backed jail terms for media outlets that publish “false information” about the army.

In this context, Facebook has played a key role in the distribution of information in Russiaeven as it grapples with criticism in the West on issues like political division and teen mental health.

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Source: Elcomercio

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