For those studying how the Russian invasion of Ukraine is reshaping technology policy, Meta’s decision last week to temporarily permit calls for violence against “invading Russians” will stand among the most consequential episodes of the war. This moment shows how public distrust of Western social media platforms can redound to cast their policies in the most sinister light possible. It also provides a window into the impossible decisions that confront Meta and other technology companies as they try to write wartime content moderation policy in real-time.

Here is how events unfolded:

On Thursday, March 10, a Reuters headline announced that, “Facebook and Instagram to temporarily allow calls for violence against Russians, calls for Putin’s death.” On Twitter, the Reuters social media team shortened this headline further. “EXCLUSIVE Facebook and Instagram to temporarily allow calls for violence against Russians,” the tweet read.

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