The permission of the US company Meta, which runs the social networks Facebook and Instagram, to call for violence against the Russian military is evidence that Russia has been declared an information war, the Russian embassy in the US said in a statement issued Thursday.
"The aggressive and criminal policy of Meta, which leads to incitement of hatred and hostility toward Russians, causes indignation," the diplomatic mission stressed. - "The company's actions are further evidence of the information war without rules that has been declared in our country. Media corporations have become soldiers in the propaganda machine of the Western ruling circles".
"We demand that US authorities stop Meta's extremist activities and take action to bring those responsible to justice," the statement said. - "Facebook and Instagram users have not empowered the leaders of these Internet platforms to define the criteria of truth and pit some nations against others".
Earlier Reuters, citing the internal mailing list of the company reported that Facebook and Instagram in some countries will not block users' calls for violence against Russian citizens and soldiers in particular. According to the agency, Meta's emails indicate that calls for violence against Russians are allowed when the post explicitly refers to the military operation in Ukraine. The company's policy changes apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. According to the agency, the company will also temporarily not remove calls to death for Russian and Belarusian presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko in Poland, Russia and Ukraine.
The company's policy changes apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. According to the agency, the company will also temporarily not remove appeals to the deaths of Russian and Belarusian presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko in Poland, Russia and Ukraine.
Meta later acknowledged that it had temporarily allowed violence calls against the Russian military in light of the military operation in Ukraine. Company spokesman Andy Stone wrote on Twitter that they "temporarily made permissible forms of political expression that would normally violate [company] rules, including violent rhetoric," including threats against the Russian military. He added that calls for violence against RF civilians would remain banned, but did not explain exactly how violations would be moderated and detected under such policy changes.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in response to an appeal for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. After that, the US, the EU, the UK, as well as a number of other states announced that they were imposing sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS