Meta recently decided to ease its hate speech policies on its platforms.
The company currently allows hate speech directed toward Russian soldiers in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, according to a report by Globe Banner.
"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,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “We still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.”
The organization has committed to issuing a spirit-of-the-policy allowance to permit violent speech exempted from its Hate Speech Policy, according to internal emails. The policy would allow violent speech toward Russian soldiers and Russians when it is clear the speech is in the context of the Ukraine invasion.
"We are doing this because we have observed that in this specific context, 'Russian soldiers' is being used as a proxy for the Russian military,” a Meta email stated. “The Hate Speech policy continues to prohibit attacks on Russian (citizens).”
The email also stated that Meta would allow expressions of praise of the right-wing Azov battalion "for the time being, making a narrow exception for praise of the Azov Regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard."
According to a recent Reuters report, calls for the deaths of Russian military leaders will be allowed on the platforms unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method.
Russia has blocked various social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram in response to Meta’s policy, Reuters reported. A Russian court also found Meta guilty of "extremist activity," though it stopped short of banning WhatsApp, a popular messaging application owned by Meta.
The Russian Embassy in the United States recently took to Twitter to demand American authorities stop the actions of Meta and "take measures to bring the perpetrators to justice,” according to a March 10 tweet. “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."