Russia vs. Meta

The relationship between Meta and Russia has been a hot topic since the 2016 elections — when Russian agents influenced 126 million users on Facebook by sharing inflammatory posts. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and subsequent moves by Meta have complicated matters even further.

Last week Meta announced it would temporarily allow language on Facebook and Instagram that would usually be considered hate speech.

The Meta policy…

• Applies to language directed at Russian soldiers in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (e.g., “death to the Russian invaders”)
• Is limited to Ukraine and a handful of countries in close proximity to Russia, including Estonia, Hungary, and Poland.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said the change was made to protect Ukrainian citizens’ rights to speech as an act of self-defense, and to allow them to express resistance to invading military forces.

Russia’s response was swift and hostile. Per CNN, a Russian investigative agency filed a criminal case against Meta, accusing the company of calls for violence against Russian citizens, and moved to label Meta an extremist organization. Another instance of an extremist country pointing fingers.

Russian authorities, who banned Facebook in the country on March 4, announced it would begin restricting access to Instagram as well.

Putin is also reportedly weighing a ban on WhatsApp, Meta’s messaging platform, which is used by over 80% of Russians to communicate.

So what’s next?
On Meta’s end, the bans could result in a $2 Billion revenue hit, with Russia making up 1.5% of the company’s advertising sales.

More importantly though, banning Meta’s platforms has effectively crimped Russian citizens ability to get information as 70 million Russians use Facebook and 63 million use Instagram.

Thanks to The Hustle for this timely information