LONDON: Meta鈥檚 Oversight Board on Monday overturned the company鈥檚 decision to remove a Facebook post that used the slogan 鈥渄eath to Khamenei鈥� to criticize the Iranian leader, saying it did not violate a rule barring violent threats.
The board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, said in a ruling that the phrase is often used to mean 鈥渄own with Khamenei鈥� in referring to Iran鈥檚 Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been leading a violent crackdown on nationwide protests in recent months.
It also urged the company to develop better ways of factoring such context into its content policies and outline clearly when rhetorical threats against heads of state were permitted.
鈥淚n the context of the post, and the broader social, political and linguistic situation in Iran, 鈥榤arg bar Khamenei鈥� should be understood as 鈥榙own with.鈥� It is a rhetorical, political slogan, not a credible threat,鈥� the board wrote.
Iran has been gripped by demonstrations since mid-September, following the death in detention of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman arrested for wearing 鈥渋nappropriate attire鈥� under the country鈥檚 strict dress code for women.
The protests, in which demonstrators from all walks of life have called for the fall of Iran鈥檚 ruling theocracy, have posed one of the biggest challenges to the government of the Shiite Muslim-ruled Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.
The unrest created a now-familiar conundrum for Meta, which has wavered repeatedly in its treatment of violent political rhetoric on its platforms.
The company bans language that incites 鈥渟erious violence鈥� but aims to avoid overreach by limiting enforcement to credible threats, leaving ambiguity around when and how the rule applies.
After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, for example, Meta introduced a temporary exemption to allow calls for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin, aiming to give users in the region space to express their anger over the war.
However, days later it reversed the exemption after Reuters reported its existence.
Meta also has faced scrutiny over how its platforms were used to organize in the run-up to the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. Phrases like 鈥渒ill them all鈥� appeared in thousands of US-based Facebook Groups before the attack, including calls for violence against specific US political leaders.
The Oversight Board said in its ruling that 鈥渄eath to Khamenei鈥� statements differed from threats posted around Jan. 6, as politicians were then 鈥渃learly at risk鈥� in the US context and 鈥渄eath to鈥� was not a rhetorical statement in English. (Reporting by Katie Paul in Palo Alto, California Editing by Sandra Maler)