Facebook owner Meta blocks hashtags linked to Bucha killings

Facebook owner Meta Platforms briefly restricted hashtags related to civilian deaths in northern Ukraine, where bodies of people shot at close range were found in a town seized back from Russian forces, a company spokesman confirmed on Monday.

The killings in Bucha, outside Kyiv, have drawn pledges of further sanctions against Moscow from the West.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone said automated systems that scan for violent imagery on Facebook and Instagram, which the company also owns, were responsible for blocking hashtags including #bucha and #buchamassacre.

A man stands in front of a sign of Meta, the new name for the company formerly known as Facebook, at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S. October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Barria//File Photo

“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.

Facebook and Instagram permit the posting of graphic and violent content when it is shared to raise awareness of possible human rights abuses, but deletes the content if it is extremely explicit or celebrates suffering.

The social media company also adds warning labels to some graphic posts that users must click through before they can see the images.

Human rights groups have critized Meta’s approach to removing violent content during conflicts, saying its practice of purging the data from its servers after 90 days results in the deletion of critical 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.

(Reporting by Katie Paul; editing by Richard Pullin)