Both Facebook and Instagram have announced that they will allow calls for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers.
Reuters reported that it has seen internal emails from Facebook that reflect this new temporary change in its “hate speech” policy.
The temporary allowance will also extend to posts calling for the assassination of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin or the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and applies to users in Russia (where Facebook is now banned) Ukraine, and Poland.
According to the details, these calls for violence will be allowed as long as they don’t include the location or method of violence, an email seen by Reuters allegedly says.
The policy on calls for violence to Russian soldiers applies to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
The leaked emails also say that calls for violence against Russians are allowed if it’s made clear in the post that it’s referring to the invasion of Ukraine.
The report says that the calls for violence against Russian soldiers are allowed because this was seen as a proxy for the Russian military itself.
The policy does not extend to prisoners of war.
The temporary policy changes on calls for violence to Russian soldiers apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, according to an email.
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