META BRIEFLY BLOCKS HASHTAGS TIED TO BUCHA KILLINGS

Facebook owner Meta Platforms briefly restricted hashtags related to civilian deaths in northern Ukraine, where bodies of people shot at close range were found in a town seized back from Russian forces, a company spokesman confirmed on Monday. Meta spokesman Andy Stone said automated systems that scan for violent imagery on Facebook and Instagram, which the company also owns, were responsible for blocking hashtags including #bucha and #buchamassacre. “When we were made aware of the issue yesterday, we acted quickly to unblock the hashtags,” he wrote on Twitter. Facebook and Instagram permit graphic and violent content when it is shared to raise awareness of human rights abuses, but not if it is extremely explicit or celebrates suffering.