Meta share slightly higher before the market: Facebook relaxes guidelines against hate speech because of the war in Ukraine

As an example of an exception to statements that would normally have violated guidelines, a Facebook spokesman cited the sentence “Death to the Russian invaders” on Friday night. “We will continue to not allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” he wrote on Twitter.

The easing only applies to users in some countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary, wrote the New York Times. In the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, which has been going on for more than two weeks, many Ukrainians are also venting their anger on Facebook.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov threatened “decisive measures” if meta services were not to block the calls for violence. The head of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, said the move would have to be examined by the Russian prosecutor’s office, the TASS news agency reported. The media regulator Roskomnadzor demanded clarification from the group. Facebook is blocked in Russia while other meta-services like WhatsApp and Instagram are still working.

Meta shares are temporarily up 0.72 percent at $196.61 in premarket NASDAQ trading.

MENLO PARK (dpa-AFX)

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