New unprecedented stage of the war that has also been raging online since the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has decided to make exceptions to the rules on violent and hateful content appearing on its social networks. Facebook and Instagram users in many Eastern European countries have permission to publishing violent messages against Russian soldiers and even death calls against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian ally, Alexander Lukashenko. These messages will be temporarily tolerated, according to internal emails viewed by Reuters and AFP. violent speeches such as ‘death to the Russian invaders’,” Meta said in a statement late Thursday. The Californian group adds an essential safeguard: it will continue “not to allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians”.
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Meta, which has worked hard in recent years to improve its anti-hate speech policies, is on a high point regarding the war in Ukraine. Opening the floodgates to messages of violence against Russian soldiers also amounts to “preserving the voice and expression” of those who suffer the invasion, specifies Meta. applies to Ukraine and Russia of course, but also to several other countries in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, according to Reuters.
Russia blocked Facebook on its territory last week, in retaliation for the Menlo Park group’s decision to ban Kremlin-controlled media accounts (including the RT channel and the Sputnik website). She joined the very closed club of countries banning the largest social network in the world, alongside China and North Korea. But it must be said that in the country of Vladimir Putin the use of Facebook is relatively uncommon. : only one in ten Russians would use it, preferring other social networks like the Russian VK. As for Instagram, very popular in Russia as elsewhere, this social network of photos has not been banned there for the time being.
Access to Twitter is also severely restricted in Russia. To evade Russian surveillance, the microblogging platform this week launched a version on Tor, considered the main gateway to the anonymous Internet.
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In Russia, posting content criticizing the war on social networks or expressing an opinion opposing the conflict has become very dangerous after a law passed on March 4 which imposes up to fifteen years in prison on the authors of “false information”. against the Russian army. Since the beginning of the conflict, the authorities and the Russian media – almost all under the control of Vladimir Putin’s government – have used the formula “special operation” while the use of the word war is prohibited on the Web as in the street.
Faced with this leaden screed, most tech giants have stopped or reduced their activities in Russia. Microsoft and Apple have suspended product sales in the country, while Netflix, Intel and Airbnb have suspended their activities there. Even the Chinese TikTok has limited the conditions of access to its video platform in Russia. Decisions that isolate Russia, every day a little more.
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