According to media reports on Friday, Meta, the parent company of social networks Facebook and Instagram, plans to allow the publication of calls for violence against Russians in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we temporarily made exceptions to commonly forbidden forms of political expressions, such as violent speech such as ‘die before the Russian aggressors’.
According to Andy Stone, a spokesman for Meta, threats of violence against Russian civilians will not be tolerated.
According to the Sputnik news agency, the US media behemoth will allow posts in several countries, including Russia, Ukraine, and Poland, calling for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
This comes just days after Russia blocked access to Facebook and other social media platforms, claiming that it was discriminating against Russian media and information resources.
According to reports, the BBC and Deutsche Welle’s Russian websites, Twitter, Apple and Google’s app stores have all been blocked.
According to the Russian media regulator, “a decision was made in March 2022 to block access to the Facebook network (owned by Meta Platforms, Inc.) in the Russian Federation.”
Meta’s president, Nick Clegg, stated that the company is doing “everything we can” to restore services.
On February 24, Russia began a “military operation” in Ukraine, claiming it was in response to calls for protection from Ukrainian troops by the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the special operation only targets the Ukrainian military infrastructure, and civilians are not in danger.
Several countries, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, have launched a broad anti-Russian sanctions campaign, prompting many international companies to exit the Russian market.
