Russia opens criminal investigation of Meta over death calls on Facebook

* Facebook temporarily allows 'Death to Russian invaders' posts* Move linked to Ukraine war prompts outrage in Russia* Prosecutor asks court to list Meta as 'extremist organisation' Russia opened a criminal case against Facebook's parent Meta Platforms on Friday and moved to designate it as an "extremist organisation" after the social network changed its hate speech rules to allow users to call for violence against Russians in the context of the war with Ukraine."A criminal case has been initiated ... in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram," Russia's Investigative Committee said.

UN slams Facebook decision on                 violent messages AFP/Geneva The UN voiced alarm Friday at Facebook's decision to temporarily ease its policy on violent speech after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, warning it could spark "hate speech" against Russians. The policy decision from Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta on Thursday said the platforms would now allow statements like "death to Russian invaders" but not credible threats against civilians. "This is clearly a very, very complex issue, but it does raise some concerns under the terms of human rights law and international humanitarian law," UN rights office spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell told reporters in Geneva. In its statement Thursday, the firm pointed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24. "We have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as 'death to the Russian invaders'," it said. It added that it "still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians". Throssell warned that the new policy lacked clarity, which "could certainly contribute to hate speech directed at Russians in general". "That would be really concerning," she said, adding that the UN rights office planned to raise its concerns with Meta. "We may encourage them to look at certain harms that come with this change of policy," she said. Throssell acknowledged that the issue was legally complex and freedom of speech concerns also needed to be considered. "In an ongoing conflict, seeking violence against those who are directly engaged in hostilities would likely not be prohibited speech," she said. "This needs more analysis from our side, and also more information from Meta."

The committee reports directly to President Vladimir Putin. It was not immediately clear what the consequences of the criminal case might be.No comment was immediately available from Meta in response to a Reuters request.Two weeks into Russia's war in Ukraine, a Meta spokesperson said on Thursday the company had temporarily eased its rules for political speech, allowing posts such as "death to the Russian invaders," although it would not allow calls for violence against Russian civilians.Meta said the temporary change aimed to allow for forms of political expression that would normally violate its rules. Its oversight board said on Friday that it was closely following the war in Ukraine, and how Meta is responding.Russia has for more than a year been striving to curb the influence of U.S. tech giants including Alphabet Inc's Google and Twitter, repeatedly fining them for allowing what it deems to be illegal content.But the invasion of Ukraine - met by a storm of international condemnation and unprecedented sanctions - has sharply raised the stakes in the information war.Social media provide an opportunity for dissent against Putin's line - loyally followed by the tightly controlled state media - that Moscow was forced to launch its "special military operation" to defend Russian-speakers in Ukraine against genocide and to demilitarise and "denazify" the country.The Investigative Committee said the Facebook move could violate articles of the Russian criminal law against public calls for extremist activities."Such actions of the (Meta) company's management not only form an idea that terrorist activity is permissible, but are aimed at inciting hatred and enmity towards the citizens of the Russian Federation," the state prosecutor's office said.It said it had applied to a court to recognise Meta as an extremist organisation and prohibit its activities in Russia.Internal Meta emails seen by Reuters showed the U.S. company had temporarily allowed posts that call for the death of Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko."We hope it is not true because if it is true then it will mean that there will have to be the most decisive measures to end the activities of this company," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.The United Nations human rights office said the potential change in Facebook policy was "concerning."Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, all of which are popular in Russia.Last week, Russia said it was banning Facebook in the country in response to what it said were restrictions of access to Russian media on the platform. The statement from the prosecutor's office said the state communications regulator would now also restrict access to Instagram.Instagram is a favoured tool of jailed Putin opponent Alexei Navalny, who used it in a message posted via his lawyers and supporters on Friday to call for Russians to join protests against the Ukraine war and "mad maniac Putin" this weekend. .WhatsApp will not be affected by the legal moves, Russia's RIA news agency cited a source as saying, as the messaging app is considered a means of communication not a way to post information.