The supervisory board of the US giant Meta, the parent company of Facebook, asked the social network to authorize a post containing the message “death to Khamenei”, the Iranian supreme leader, which was removed by the group.
“In the context of this publication and the general social, political and linguistic situation in Iran, ‘marg bar Khamenei’ (‘death to Khamenei’ in Farsi, editor’s note) should be understood as ‘below’.” a rhetorical and political slogan, and not a credible threat”, continues the organization described as independent but financed by Meta.
The target post is from July 2022: it contains a cartoon of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with the caption “death to the anti-women Islamic government” and “death to its filthy leader Khamenei.”
Precedent in Ukraine
Since September, Iran has been under the control of a wave of protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
The 22-year-old Iranian woman died after being arrested by police, who accused her of violating the country’s strict dress code for women.
Facebook’s failure to enforce free speech “has led to the silencing of political speech intended to protect women’s rights,” the oversight board said.
Meta frequently has to decide between moderating content that could be considered violent or defending free speech.
Last March, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the group led by Mark Zuckerberg, for example, decided to make exceptions to its rules on incitement to violence and hatred by tolerating hostile messages towards the army and Russian leaders.
Meta later clarified his position by saying that he does not authorize death threats against Russian heads of state or citizens.
Source: BFM TV
