Facebook and Instagram have instituted a temporary change in policy that allows users to post content that’s usually forbidden. The change first surfaced in a report by Reuters, citing internal emails to moderators.

In 2021, vice reported Facebook moderators received similar instructions about’death to khamanei’. The New York Times also cited a spokesperson saying that Facebook had made that particular exception in certain earlier cases.

The Facebook standards regarding hate speech and violence have continued to receive updates since the company started publishing them publicly in 2018. This change is the latest example of how platforms have modified their treatment of content originating from the invading countries or relating to them since the fighting began.

An update to the Reuters report includes the content of the message sent to moderators, which read:::”it’s not going to happen.”.

We are issuing a spirit-of-the-policy allowance to allow T1 violent speech that would otherwise be removed under the hate speech policy.

The emails cited by Reuters claim moderation guidelines dictate that language dehumanizing or attacking a particular group based on its identity be removed.

The policy already includes many carve-outs and exceptions. It states explicitly that additional information is needed before the enforcement of the policy.

Facebook looks at a range of signs to determine whether there is a threat of harm in the content. These include content that could incite imminent violence or intimidation. In some cases, we may also consider whether the speaker is a public figure or occupying a position of authority.