Meta Oversight Board Rules In Support Of Post Comparing Russian Soldiers To Nazis

Meta Platforms, Inc’s META independent Oversight Board disclosed overturning its earlier decision to remove a Facebook post that likened Russian soldiers who invaded Ukraine to Nazis, the Washington Post reported.
The Oversight Board said the Facebook post, which included the image of what appeared to be a dead body and quoted a poem calling for the killing of fascists, did not violate the company’s content rules or its responsibility to protect human rights.
The board argued that the user drew historical parallels based on the soldiers’ behavior in a particular time and place.
“The post also targets Russian soldiers because of their role as combatants, not because of their nationality,” the Oversight Board wrote.
The ruling represented a rare rebuke by the Oversight Board, a group of academics, experts, and lawyers who oversee Meta’s content moderation decisions.
The Oversight Board previously expressed interest in weighing in on the company’s evolving policies regarding content about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but was overlooked.
Later, the company applied a warning screen to the photograph that alerted users the content may be violent or graphic.
So far, the board has ruled on many cases, including deciding whether Facebook should have suspended the account of former president Donald Trump in the wake of January 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol.
Earlier this year, Meta decided to allow some calls for violence against Russian invaders, creating an unusual exception to its long-standing hate speech rules prohibiting such language.
Later, Meta withdrew its request for the Oversight Board to review its approach to content about the war, citing “ongoing safety and security concerns.”
Price Action: META shares traded lower by 2.56% at $114.09 on the last check Wednesday.

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