How Meta fumbled propaganda moderation during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The tech giant has sought to position itself as a responsible steward of online speech during the invasion, which Russia calls a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbour.

Days after the March 9 bombing of a maternity and children's hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, comments claiming the attack never happened began flooding the queues of workers moderating Facebook and Instagram content on behalf of the apps' owner, Meta Platforms.

(Sign up to our Technology newsletter, Today’s Cache, for insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business and policy. Click here to subscribe for free.)

The bombardment killed at least three people, including a child, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said publicly. Images of bloodied, heavily pregnant women fleeing through the rubble, their hands cradling their bellies, sparked immediate outrage worldwide.

Among the most-recognised women was Mariana Vishegirskaya, a Ukrainian fashion and beauty influencer. Photos of her navigating down a hospital stairwell in polka-dot pyjamas circulated widely after the attack, captured by an Associated Press photographer.

Online expressions of support for the mother-to-be quickly turned to attacks on her Instagram account, according to two contractors directly moderating content from the conflict on Facebook and Instagram. They spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, citing non-disclosure agreements that barred them from discussing their work publicly.

The case involving the beauty influencer is just one example of how Meta's content policies and enforcement mechanisms have enabled pro-Russian propaganda during the Ukraine invasion, the moderators told Reuters.

Russian officialdom seized on the images, setting them side-by-side against her glossy Instagram photos in an effort to persuade viewers that the attack had been faked. On state television and social media, and in the chamber of the U.N. Security Council, Moscow alleged - falsely - that Vishegirskaya had donned make-up and multiple outfits in an elaborately staged hoax orchestrated by Ukrainian forces.