Meta Oversight Board Allows Facebook Post Calling for ‘Death to Khamenei’

The Oversight Board of Meta today told the company to allow a Facebook post that calls for “death to Khamenei.” The Oversight Board overturned a Facebook company’s decision to remove a post critical of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that used the phrase “death to Khamenei,” saying that it did not violate the company’s rule against violent threats, Reuters first reported. Meta’s bylaws ban language that incites “serious violence.” The independent board, which nevertheless is funded by Meta, said in its decision that the context of the slogan is “down” with Iran’s supreme leader and is meant to indicate opposition to the government-approved violent crackdown on protests that have roiled the country since September. The board noted that in the context of the post and the current situation in Iran, the phrase “death to Khamenei is “a rhetorical, political slogan, not a credible threat.”