Facebook Parent Meta, Twitter, YouTube Asked to Archive Evidence of Suspected Russian War Crimes

In a letter to the social media platforms, four democratic US lawmakers encouraged the companies to preserve content posted on their sites.

By Reuters | Updated: 13 May 2022 13:22 IST

Facebook Parent Meta, Twitter, YouTube Asked to Archive Evidence of Suspected Russian War Crimes

Meta Platforms said on Wednesday it has withdrawn a request for policy guidance

Highlights

Fiio JD3 has a 9.2mm diaphragm driver
Fiio JD3 is currently on sale for Rs. 1,499
The headset have a microphone and in-line remote

Four Democratic lawmakers on Thursday asked the CEOs of YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook owner Meta to archive content that could be used as evidence of suspected Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Ukraine and the West say Russian troops have committed war crimes in its 11-week invasion of its neighbor, in which thousands of civilians have been killed. Russia denies the allegations and says it does not target civilians.

In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the lawmakers, including the leaders of the House Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees, Carolyn Maloney, and Gregory Meeks, encouraged the company to preserve content posted on its sites.

Samsung Wins Patent for a Tri-Fold Smartphone With Specialised Barrier Layer for Improved Durability

That content "could potentially be used as evidence as the US government and international human rights and accountability monitors investigate Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocities in Ukraine," the letter said.

The letters were also signed by two subcommittee chairmen, William Keating, and Stephen Lynch.

The UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Thursday to establish an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian troops in places near the capital Kyiv and beyond, a move that Russia said amounted to political score-settling.

Facebook Sued by Former Kenyan Content Moderator

Meanwhile, Facebook parent Meta Platforms said on Wednesday it has withdrawn a request for policy guidance from its Oversight Board about the content moderation of posts related to Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine.

"This decision was not made lightly — the PAO (policy advisory opinion) was withdrawn due to ongoing safety and security concerns," the company said in a blog post.

The board, which can make binding decisions on specific thorny content moderation appeals and give policy recommendations, said it was "disappointed" by the decision.

A Meta spokesman declined to give more information about the policies on which it was seeking guidance or about the specific concerns.

Russia banned social media platforms Facebook and Instagram in March, finding Meta guilty of "extremist activity" amid Moscow's crackdown on social media during its invasion of Ukraine. Meta's messaging service WhatsApp is not affected by the ban. Russia has also throttled Twitter by slowing its service.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

How is Alexa faring in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.