Facebook Stops Short Of Death Threats Against Putin In Relaxed Guidelines

Last week, Meta announced that it would allow some violent speech from Ukrainian Facebook accounts against Russian invaders as part of “political speech.”

However, the platform has now further clarified that it won’t be condoning death threats against the man at the center of the ongoing conflict, President Vladimir Putin.

“We also do not permit calls to assassinate a head of state,” said Nick Clegg, Meta’s Head of Global Affairs, as reported by Reuters. 

“In order to remove any ambiguity about our stance, we are further narrowing our guidance to make explicit that we are not allowing calls for the death of a head of state on our platforms,” he added.

Additionally, Facebook emphasized that allowing calls for violence against the invaders does not mean the network was “condoning violence against Russians in general.” 

“Meta stands against Russophobia. We have no tolerance for calls for genocide, ethnic cleansing, or any kind of discrimination, harassment, or violence towards Russians on our platform,” it said. 

[via Reuters and CNET, cover image via Kianlin | Dreamstime.com]