Sean Hannity says Vladimir Putin was 'channeling his inner Donald Trump' at Moscow pro-war rally
Sean Hannity twice suggested on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to imitate former US President Donald Trump.Eight days after Russia invaded Ukraine, its communications agency Roskomnadzor cut off access to foreign news sites including the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Voice of America. It also banned Facebook, which chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg attributed to the firm's fact-checks of Russian state media posts.
Meta will not allow users posts to call for the death of "heads of state," Bloomberg reported.
Reuters reported Friday that the company could approve content calling for the death of Russian President Putin.
The post was from Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at at Meta Platforms.
In an internal post reviewed by Bloomberg, Facebook seemingly slimmed down a previously reported policy that would allow users in certain countries to call for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus.
Meta says it doesn't allow calls for assassinating heads of state
"We also do not permit calls to assassinate a head of state," Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Facebook parent company Meta Platforms, said in the post Sunday, likely referring in part to Russia's president, who invaded Ukraine in late February.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed the details of the Bloomberg report to Insider.
On Friday, Reuters had reported that Facebook and Instagram would allow users in certain countries, when discussing the invasion, to post threats about Russian soldiers, its head of state, and, apparently, Russian people, though a Meta spokesperson clarified the latter policy in a statement.
"In light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, we made a temporary exception for those affected by war, to express violent sentiments toward invading armed forces such as ''death to the Russian invaders'. These are temporary measures designed to preserve voice and expression for people who are facing invasion. As always, we are prohibiting calls for violence against Russians outside of the narrow context of the current invasion," the Meta spokesperson told Insider on Friday.
Meta now says you can't threaten to kill Russia's President Putin on Facebook because of the Ukraine war
Meta Platforms, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, has drawn heat from Russia since the the invasion of Ukraine.Meta also said that a previously reported temporary easing of its hate speech policy only applies to allowing posts by users in Ukraine making threats to the attacking forces and "only in the context of speech regarding the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
The world of sports is distancing itself from Russia, abandoning sponsorships, refusing to play matches, and canceling events
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on Thursday.
Sports teams and organizations across the globe are now distancing themselves from the country.
The Russian Grand Prix has been canceled, while Russia has also been stripped of the Champions League final.
World sport is distancing itself from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military assault in Ukraine Thursday, with attacks having since been reported in the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa.
According to The Times of England, at least 57 Ukrainians died on the first day of the invasion.
With world leaders condemning Russia and Putin, sports teams and organizations, as well as athletes, from across the globe are now moving to separate themselves from the country and its leader.
Could Putin actually fall?
What history teaches us about how autocrats lose power — and how Putin might hang on.“Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine will result in the downfall of him and his friends,” David Rothkopf declared in the Daily Beast. “If history is any guide, his overreach and his miscalculations, his weaknesses as a strategist, and the flaws in his character will undo him.
Set to take place in Sochi in September, Formula One confirmed on Friday that the race had been cancelled as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The statement came after four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel said he would not attend the race if it went ahead.
"The FIA Formula 1 World Championship visits countries all over the world with a positive vision to unite people, bringing nations together," F1 said.
Russia Gives Facebook a Way to 'Cancel' Ban, Resume Operations
A Moscow court upheld Russia's ban of Facebook and Instagram, accusing the social media sites of "extremist activity."The Tverskoy District Court on Monday ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by Russian prosecutors to ban Facebook and Instagram, stating that Meta has been found guilty of "extremist activity." The court ruled that WhatsApp, another Meta-owned platform, would be allowed to stay in Russia.
"We are watching the developments in Ukraine with sadness and shock and hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the present situation.
"On Thursday evening Formula 1, the FIA, and the teams discussed the position of our sport, and the conclusion is, including the view of all relevant stakeholders, that it is impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in the current circumstances."
A German soccer club removed a Russian oil giant from its shirts.
Gazprom has been the main shirt sponsor of Schalke 04 since 2007. On Thursday, the Bundesliga club changed that.
"In view of the events, development and escalation of the past few days, FC Schalke 04 has decided to remove the lettering of its main sponsor – "GAZPROM" – from the jerseys," a club statement read.
"Instead, 'Schalke 04' will be on the chest of the Royal Blues."
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While Formula One team Haas made a similar move.
Haas opted to remove Russian sponsor Uralkali's logo from its car during the final day of testing in Barcelona on Friday as it continued its preparations for the new season. The car's livery also included a front wing in the colors of the Russian flag, which has also been changed.
'War criminal': As Biden gets personal with Putin, US, Russia relationship hits a dangerous crisis
President Biden’s vow to make Vladimir Putin a “pariah” on the world stage and label him a war criminal could be a risky personalization of the war. “My own sense is, personalizing it like that, it complicates things,” said Bruce Jentleson, a Duke University professor and author of “The Peacemakers: Leadership Lessons from 20th Century Statesmanship.” “If we’re thinking crisis resolution and limiting the escalation, what we know about Putin, that just makes it more difficult. I think we would have been better off if he didn't say it, even though it's true.
"Haas F1 Team will present its VF-22 in a plain white livery, minus Uralkali branding, for the third and final day of track running at Circuit de Barcelona on Friday," the team said in a statement, per Sportsmail.
"No further comment will be made at this time regarding team partner agreements."
Haas finds itself in a tough spot as Uralkali is its largest sponsor, and one of its drivers, Nikita Mazepin, is the son of a Putin-linked oligarch.
Soccer giant Manchester United has also ditched a Russian sponsor.
Kieren Maguire, a soccer finance lecturer at the University of Liverpool, reported Thursday that Manchester United was to terminate its sponsorship deal with Russian airline Aeroflot.
The club confirmed the reports on Friday.
A club spokesperson said, per The Independent: "In light of events in Ukraine, we have withdrawn Aeroflot's sponsorship rights. We share the concerns of our fans around the world and extend our sympathies to those affected."
"Due to concerns over player safety and uncertainty related to international travel following the recent escalation of events between Russia and Ukraine, next week's ATP Challenger tournament in Moscow will not take place as scheduled," the ATP said in a statement Friday.
The Kremlin Cup, set to take place in Moscow in October, is yet to be removed from the calendar.
Skiing and basketball events in Russia have been stopped.
On Friday, the International Ski Federation (FIS) decided to cancel all of its remaining 2021/2022 FIS World Cup stages which are set to be hosted in Russia.
Russia moves to declare Meta an 'extremist' organization, which would lead to all its services being cut off in Russia
Russia has already blocked Facebook and declaring Meta an "extremist" organization, would also lead to Instagram and WhatsApp being shut down.Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military assault in Ukraine Thursday, with attacks having since been reported in the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa.
"In the interest of the safety of all participants and to maintain the integrity of the World Cup, that all remaining World Cup events scheduled to take place in Russia between now and the end of the 2021-22 season will be cancelled or moved to another location," a statement said.
In basketball, Barcelona said its team would not fly to Russia for two games against Russian teams Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow on Saturday and Monday in the Euroleague.
Several European soccer federations also said that they won't play games in Russia.
Russia is due to host Poland in a World Cup qualifying playoff game on March 24. Should Russia win that fixture it would play Sweden or the Czech Republic in the next round.
All three nations have said they will not play in Russia.
"The signatories to this appeal do not consider travelling to Russia and playing football matches there," the three countries said in a joint statement addressed to FIFA's General Secretary.
"The military escalation that we are observing entails serious consequences and considerably lower safety for our national football teams and official delegations."
And the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has condemned Russia.
With the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games starting on March 4, the IOC hit out at Russia for breaching the Olympic Truce.
The Olympic Truce is a tradition dating back to ancient Greece in which calls for the "cessation of hostilities" between Olympic countries seven days before and after the games to "promote peace" and ensure athletes' safe passage in-and-out of their countries.
The truce is non-binding, meaning Russia won't face any consequences from the IOC.
"The IOC is deeply concerned about the safety of the Olympic Community in Ukraine," the organization said in a statement.
Facebook and Instagram will temporarily permit posts that call for violence against invading Russians and Putin from users in certain countries like Ukraine and Poland, report says
Reuters said Meta would temporarily permit speech calling for violence against invading Russians in certain countries when discussing the Ukraine conflict."In light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, we made a temporary exception for those affected by war, to express violent sentiments toward invading armed forces such as ''death to the Russian invaders'. These are temporary measures designed to preserve voice and expression for people who are facing invasion. As always, we are prohibiting calls for violence against Russians outside of the narrow context of the current invasion," a Meta spokesperson told Insider.
"It has established a task force to closely monitor the situation and to coordinate humanitarian assistance to members of the Olympic Community in Ukraine where possible."
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) added that it was "in dialogue" with the Ukrainian and Russian Paralympic Committees amid the ongoing crisis.
Reuters further reported Friday that Facebook and Instagram would permit users in Poland, Ukraine, Russia, and others to call for the death of Putin or Lukashenko, as long as they didn't have "two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method," the outlet wrote. Clegg appeared to change that rule in his internal post Sunday.
Video: Russia opens criminal investigation of Meta over death calls on Facebook (Reuters)
In another seeming change, the revised content moderation policies, he said, only affect users in Ukraine and "only in the context of speech regarding the Russian military invasion of Ukraine," Bloomberg reported.
Clegg discussed the policies more publicly in a Tweet Friday that defended the company's new decisions on content moderation, after officials in Russia asked a court to designate Meta as an extremist organization. (Instagram was blocked in Russia today.)
"The fact is, if we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable," Clegg's statement read.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Facebook and Instagram will temporarily permit posts that call for violence against invading Russians and Putin from users in certain countries like Ukraine and Poland, report says .
Reuters said Meta would temporarily permit speech calling for violence against invading Russians in certain countries when discussing the Ukraine conflict."In light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, we made a temporary exception for those affected by war, to express violent sentiments toward invading armed forces such as ''death to the Russian invaders'. These are temporary measures designed to preserve voice and expression for people who are facing invasion. As always, we are prohibiting calls for violence against Russians outside of the narrow context of the current invasion," a Meta spokesperson told Insider.
Sean Hannity twice suggested on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to imitate former US President Donald Trump.Eight days after Russia invaded Ukraine, its communications agency Roskomnadzor cut off access to foreign news sites including the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Voice of America. It also banned Facebook, which chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg attributed to the firm's fact-checks of Russian state media posts. 
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, issued a reminder on Sunday that it prohibits calls on its platforms for the assassination of high-ranking world leaders, following intense scrutiny of the company's decision last week to relax hate speech policies in Ukraine. © Adobe Stock In an internal post to employees, Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said "we do not permit calls to assassinate a head of state." The internal post, which was reported by Bloomberg and Reuters and confirmed to CNN Business by a Meta spokesperson, does not mention Russian President Vladimir Putin by name. 
Meta Platforms, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, has drawn heat from Russia since the the invasion of Ukraine.Meta also said that a previously reported temporary easing of its hate speech policy only applies to allowing posts by users in Ukraine making threats to the attacking forces and "only in the context of speech regarding the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. 
What history teaches us about how autocrats lose power — and how Putin might hang on.“Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine will result in the downfall of him and his friends,” David Rothkopf declared in the Daily Beast. “If history is any guide, his overreach and his miscalculations, his weaknesses as a strategist, and the flaws in his character will undo him.
What history teaches us about how autocrats lose power — and how Putin might hang on.“Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine will result in the downfall of him and his friends,” David Rothkopf declared in the Daily Beast. “If history is any guide, his overreach and his miscalculations, his weaknesses as a strategist, and the flaws in his character will undo him. 
A Moscow court upheld Russia's ban of Facebook and Instagram, accusing the social media sites of "extremist activity."The Tverskoy District Court on Monday ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by Russian prosecutors to ban Facebook and Instagram, stating that Meta has been found guilty of "extremist activity." The court ruled that WhatsApp, another Meta-owned platform, would be allowed to stay in Russia. 
President Biden’s vow to make Vladimir Putin a “pariah” on the world stage and label him a war criminal could be a risky personalization of the war. “My own sense is, personalizing it like that, it complicates things,” said Bruce Jentleson, a Duke University professor and author of “The Peacemakers: Leadership Lessons from 20th Century Statesmanship.” “If we’re thinking crisis resolution and limiting the escalation, what we know about Putin, that just makes it more difficult. I think we would have been better off if he didn't say it, even though it's true. 
Russia has already blocked Facebook and declaring Meta an "extremist" organization, would also lead to Instagram and WhatsApp being shut down.Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military assault in Ukraine Thursday, with attacks having since been reported in the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa. 
Reuters said Meta would temporarily permit speech calling for violence against invading Russians in certain countries when discussing the Ukraine conflict."In light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, we made a temporary exception for those affected by war, to express violent sentiments toward invading armed forces such as ''death to the Russian invaders'. These are temporary measures designed to preserve voice and expression for people who are facing invasion. As always, we are prohibiting calls for violence against Russians outside of the narrow context of the current invasion," a Meta spokesperson told Insider. 
Sean Hannity says Vladimir Putin was 'channeling his inner Donald Trump' at... 
Meta says it doesn't allow calls for assassinating heads of state 
Meta now says you can't threaten to kill Russia's President Putin on Facebook... 
Could Putin actually fall? 
Russia Gives Facebook a Way to 'Cancel' Ban, Resume Operations 
'War criminal': As Biden gets personal with Putin, US, Russia relationship... 
Russia moves to declare Meta an 'extremist' organization, which would lead to... 
Facebook and Instagram will temporarily permit posts that call for violence... 
