Facebook To Allow Death Threats Against Putin And "Russian Invaders"

The company behind Facebook and Instagram will temporarily allow users in some countries to call for violence against Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russian troops in Ukraine.

As reported by BBC News, Meta has confirmed that certain violent speech that would normally be in violation of its social media platforms' terms and conditions will be allowed in the context of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Terms like "death to Putin", which would normally result in some kind of action, will be allowed. Meta stresses it will not tolerate any threats or calls to violence against Russian civilians, however.

Russia has responded, demanding the US take action against the social media company's "extremist activities".

"In light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, we made a temporary exception for those affected by the war, to express violent sentiments toward invading armed forces," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to the BBC.

To be very clear, this amended policy only extends to a limited number of countries. Russia, Ukraine, and Poland are among the small number that will be able to call for the deaths of Putin and Belarusian President Lukashenko, as well as generic calls to violence against the invading forces.

There are some caveats, however. Calling for the deaths of either leader will not be allowed if they contain other targets, or specify an actual method. Any threats against Russia must also clearly reference the invasion of Ukraine.

"We demand that US authorities stop the extremist activities of Meta, take measures to bring the perpetrators to justice," Russia's US embassy tweeted in response. "Users of Facebook & Instagram did not give the owners of these platforms the right to determine the criteria of truth and pit nations against each other."

Last week Russia blocked Facebook completely. It's one of the many social media platforms currently unavailable in the country as Moscow carries out what it has described as a "special operation" in Ukraine.