As you know, Russia has embarked on a crusade against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. While the Russian military continues its “special operation” against Ukraine, the American company decided a few days ago to change the moderation rules on Facebook and Instagram.
Henceforth, in some countries neighboring or close to Ukraine, such as Armenia, Poland and even Hungary and Romania, moderation teams will turn a blind eye to comments calling for violence or the killing of Russian soldiers or high-ranking Russian and Belarusian governments.
It’s an astonishing and surprising decision that has been fiercely criticized by Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who fears dangerous abuses. In his eyes, this new policy “It can certainly contribute to hate speech against Russians in general.”
Same kind of meta for Russia as Daesh
Of course, the Kremlin’s reaction was immediate: Instagram was completely blocked on Russian soil on Monday, March 14, 2022. The sanction was announced last Friday, Russian officials were waiting to know if this information regarding Meta’s new policy was correct. true or not. However, the American firm confirmed this. This is sad news for 67 million Russian users. Over the years, Instagram has established itself as an important commercial tool for small and medium businesses and the self-employed in the country, while the social network has been used by enemies such as Alexei Navalny, who are opponents of the Russian regime. Vladimir Putin’s number one.
This is not the only sanction imposed on the Mark Zuckerberg group. Indeed, the Russian authorities Placing Meta and all its services and applications on the list of terrorist organizations. Also, the Russian Investigative Committee told Meta “public calls for aid in extremist and terrorist activities”.
