Meta tightens content moderation policy for Ukraine

On Monday, Facebook parent Meta Platforms announced further tightening its content moderation policy for Ukraine.

Correspondingly, this move aims to prohibit calls for the death of a head of state. This decision came after reports said the firm launched temporary changes to its hate speech policy.

Meta global affairs President Nick Clegg emphasized that the business does not condone violence against Russians.

He further stated that the latest move focuses on removing any ambiguity on the company’s stance.

Last Thursday, reports claimed that it allowed allowances for forms of political expression in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

This includes calls for the death of the Russian invaders. But then, the tech giant explained that it would still not allow credible calls for violence against civilians.

Eventually, Russia’s embassy in the United States demanded Washington to halt the extremist activities of the company.

On Sunday, Instagram users in the Kremlin received a notification that the service would cease starting March 14. This move would affect 80.00 million users in the country.

The state communications regulator reminded its people to move their photos and videos from the social media application.

Consequently, the government agency encouraged them to switch to Russia’s competitive internet platforms.

Meta said on Friday that it would be wrong to prevent Ukrainians from expressing their resistance to the invading military forces.

Nevertheless, the Russian government greeted the statement with outrage. Consequently, authorities have opened a criminal investigation against the tech giant.

In addition, local prosecutors asked a court to designate the firm as an extremist organization. But, then, it is still not clear what are the consequences of the criminal case.

Moscow has already banned Facebook in the country. This is in response after the platform restricted Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik across the European Union.

Meta’s move amid information war

In the past year, Russia strived to curb the influence of US tech giants. It repeatedly fined the companies for allowing what it deems to be illegal content.

Regardless, the invasion of Ukraine sparked the stakes in the information war. The social media platforms provided an opportunity for disapproval against Russia’s aggression.

However, experts explained that Meta’s move could violate Moscow’s criminal law articles against public calls for extremist activities.

The company’s applications are popular in the country. Last year, Facebook had an estimated 7.50 million users, as WhatsApp had 67.00 million.

Russia’s RIA news agency reported that the instant messaging application would remain accessible.

Meta’s stock price shed 0.23% or 0.44 points to $187.17 per share on Monday’s pre-market.