Meta Platforms temporarily restricts hashtags amid Ukraine-Russia conflict

With the civilians shot in northern Ukraine by the Russian forces, Meta Platforms restricted hashtags for a brief time, company spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed on Monday.

With the rising number of deaths in the small town of Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv, there has been an increase in pledges of further sanctions against Moscow.

Automated systems that scan for violent content on Facebook and Instagram, which Meta also owns, were responsible for censoring hashtags like #bucha and #buchamassacre, according to Andy.

“This happened automatically because of the graphic content people posted using these hashtags. When we were made aware of the issue yesterday, we acted quickly to unblock the hashtags,” he wrote on Twitter.

When graphic and violent content is published to raise awareness of probable human rights abuses, Facebook and Instagram allow it but erase it if it is excessively explicit or praises pain.

Users must click-through warning banners on some graphic messages before they can access the photographs, according to the social media business.

Human rights organizations have criticized Meta’s strategy of eliminating violent content during conflicts, claiming that the company’s practice of deleting data from its servers after 90 days results in the loss of crucial evidence of war crimes.

Stone said Meta was “exploring ways to preserve this type and other types of content when we remove it,” specifically in relation to the war in Ukraine.

Russia has denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians.

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