Facebook and Instagram explain temporary blocking of #bucha and #buchamassacre hashtags by imperfect algorithms
Meta briefly limited the hashtags #bucha and #buchamassacre, which appeared after photos of Russian army victims were added to the social network.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the blocking was due to automated systems that found the images unacceptable.
This happened automatically because of the graphic content that people posted using these hashtags. When we learned about the problem yesterday, we quickly unlocked the hashtags.
Facebook and Instagram, two social networks owned by Meta, allow you to post photos and videos of scenes of violence if they are shared to draw attention to human rights violations. Only overt material or justifying suffering is removed. Social networks add warning labels to images and videos, and you can only see them if the user clicks on them.
Human rights activists have criticized Meta’s policy on such content during the conflict. The practice of removing data from servers in 90 days leads to the destruction of important evidence of war crimes.
Meta is “studying the means of preserving content”, especially in connection with the war in Ukraine.
