Ukrainian bloggers mull contesting Facebook moderation policy in court
KYIV. June 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Well known Ukrainian bloggers on Facebook, including MP Boryslav Bereza, political strategist Taras Berezovets, writer Andriy Bondar, as well as chief editor of the Censor.net edition Yuriy Butusov and co-editor of the PiC online magazine Andriy Kapustin, have criticized the Facebook moderation system and are mulling the possibility of filing lawsuits against the company, both in Ukrainian and foreign courts.
The bloggers announced this at a press conference held at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv.
According to the bloggers, the Ukrainian segment of Facebook has recently suffered from many users being banned for messages that do not violate the rules of the social network. The bloggers gave examples when users were banned for a photo with the newly appointed head of Odesa Regional State Administration Mikheil Saakashvili, as well as those who posted pictures of a girl, who received an award on behalf of her father who died in the Anti-Terrorist Operation.
The bloggers said they see elements of the hybrid war waged by Russia as the reason for the bans.
"We can state that the matter concerns a hybrid war waged by Russia," Kapustin said.
Butusov supported his colleague, noting that the bans of Ukrainian bloggers are part of the information war Russia is waging against Ukraine.