Facebook will allow some calls for violence against Russian invaders as the war in Ukraine drags on, creating an unusual exception to its long-standing hate speech rules that prohibit such language.
"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.' We still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians," said spokesman Andy Stone.
The new policy was first reported by Reuters. It will also include allowing users to call for the death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, the company said.
Facebook and other Silicon Valley companies have faced immense pressure to isolate and crack down on Russia as the war enters its third week. Facebook, TikTok and YouTube banned Russian state media in Europe and in Ukraine in response to government requests, limiting Russia's ability to spread propaganda and misinformation to millions of people. But the Ukrainian government has pressed the companies to go even further - asking them to fully shut down their services in Russia as punishment for the invasion.
Facebook refused, arguing that its services are critical for activists and everyday people to communicate with their families. But last week, Russia's Internet censor said it was blocking Facebook anyway. Facebook, which recently changed its name to Meta, said Russia's crackdown on its service was retaliation for the company's fact-checking of content published by Russian state media.
Russia notably did not block WhatsApp and Instagram, which are both more popular in the country.
Facebook frequently changes its content moderation rules, and has been criticized by its own independent Oversight Board for having rules that are inconsistent. The company, for example, created an exception to its hate speech rules for world leaders, but was never clear which leaders got the exception or why. After it banned President Donald Trump in the wake of violence on Jan. 6, the Oversight Board said the action was correct but that Facebook did so without a clear rationale.
Still, outright calls to violence tend to be strictly policed by the company, with very few exceptions.
