Meta has made temporary exemptions to hate speech rules for posts involving the Ukraine war. The switch has opened a massive can of worms
“Orwellian” references are invoked to the point of cliche, but big tech sure makes them hard to resist. The latest temptress is Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. In a move redolent of 1984’s Two Minutes Hate, the company has temporarily permitted calls for violence and deaths. The social media behemoth has provisionally permitted hate speech in certain Facebook and Instagram posts. There’s no need to worry, however; the malice can only target Meta-approved baddies. Violent speech will now be permitted when targeting Russian soldiers and Russians in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters. Meta is also now allowing posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko. The provisional policy change applies to Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
