Russia has threatened to take “the most decisive measures” against Facebook owner Meta following reports the company will allow users to call for violence against “Russian invaders”.
Meta Platforms FB.O confirmed on Thursday it had eased its rules for political speech and would allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence in the context of the Ukraine invasion.
Reuters reported Meta added it would not allow calls for violence against Russian citizens.
The social media company also said it would temporarily allow some posts calling for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, according to internal emails to its content moderators.
READ ALSO: Russia to Cut Itself Off From the Global Internet
The calls for the leaders’ deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method, one email said.
ccording to a report, Russia has threatened to take “the most decisive measures” against Facebook owner Meta following reports the company will allow users to call for violence against “Russian invaders”.
Meta Platforms FB.O confirmed on Thursday it had eased its rules for political speech and would allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence in the context of the Ukraine invasion.
Reuters reported Meta added it would not allow calls for violence against Russian citizens.
The social media company also said it would temporarily allow some posts calling for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, according to internal emails to its content moderators.
The calls for the leaders’ deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method, one email said.
A Meta spokesperson said in a statement.”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.”
In retaliation, Russia said it would end the activities of Meta – who own Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – if the reports were true.
“We don’t want to believe the Reuters report – it is just too difficult to believe,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“We hope it is not true because if it is true then it will mean that there will have to be the most decisive measures to end the activities of this company,” he said.
On Friday Russia’s Interfax news agency reported Prosecutors have asked a Russian court to designate Meta Platforms as an “extremist organisation.”
The state prosecutor also asked Russia’s communications watchdog to restrict access to Meta’s Instagram social networking service.
Russia announced last week it would be banning Facebook and Twitter, claiming this move was in response to restricted access to media on the social media platforms.
Instagram and WhatsApp are so far still being allowed.
Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said in a post on VKontakte – a Russian social media website similar to Facebook: “They should think about how they are using these platforms. They incite hatred, and even more, they call for the murder of Russian citizens.”
Putin’s forces began their assault more than two weeks ago, calling the move a “special military operation” aimed at “de-nazifying” the country.
They also claim it was a response to what it calls genocide by Ukraine against Russian-speakers in the east of the country, claims which have been rejected by the West and Kyiv.
According to reports, Putin had expected to claim Ukraine within a matter of days.
Instead, he has caused the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War Two – with over 2.5 million refugees fleeing Ukraine to neighbouring countries.
Ukrainian authorities have claimed 12,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the fighting began. The figure has not been independently verified with US reports saying it could only be as high as 3,000.
