Meta defends FB policy on calls for violence that angered Russia

LONDON: Facebook owner Meta said on Friday that a temporary change in its content policy, only for Ukraine, was needed to let users voice opposition to Russia's attack, as Russia opened a criminal case after the company said it would allow posts such as "death to the Russian invaders". Russian prosecutors asked a court to designate the US tech giant as an "extremist organisation", and the communications regulator said it would restrict access to Meta's Instagram starting March 14.The company said the decision would affect 80 million users in Russia.
"A criminal case has been initiated... in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of Russia by employees of Meta," Russia's Investigative Committee said. The agency reports directly to President Putin. It was not clear what the consequences of the case might be. Meta global affairs president Nick Clegg responded after the Russian move with a tweet saying the firm aimed to protect rights to speech as an expression of self-defence reacting to the invasion of Ukraine and that the policy only applied to Ukraine. "We have no quarrel with the Russian people," he said.