LONDON: Meta’s Oversight Board on Monday overturned the company’s decision to remove a Facebook post that used the slogan “death to Khamenei” 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 “down with Khamenei” in referring to Iran’s 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.
“In the context of the post, and the broader social, political and linguistic situation in Iran, ‘marg bar Khamenei’ should be understood as ‘down with.’ It is a rhetorical, political slogan, not a credible threat,” 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 “inappropriate attire” under the country’s strict dress code for women.
The protests, in which demonstrators from all walks of life have called for the fall of Iran’s 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 “serious violence” 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 “kill them all” 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 “death to Khamenei” statements differed from threats posted around Jan. 6, as politicians were then “clearly at risk” in the US context and “death to” was not a rhetorical statement in English. (Reporting by Katie Paul in Palo Alto, California Editing by Sandra Maler)
Meta’s Oversight Board tells company to allow ‘death to Khamenei’ posts
https://arab.news/b74pg
Meta’s Oversight Board tells company to allow ‘death to Khamenei’ posts
- The board said the phrase "marg bar Khamenei" meant "down with Khamenei"
Paris exhibition marks 200 years of Le Figaro and the enduring power of the press
- The exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive
PARIS: One of France’s most influential newspapers marked a major milestone this month with a landmark exhibition beneath the soaring glass nave of the Grand Palais, tracing two centuries of journalism, literature and political debate.
Titled 1826–2026: 200 years of freedom, the exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive. Held over three days in mid-January, the free exhibition drew large crowds eager to explore how the title has both chronicled and shaped modern French history.
More than 300 original items were displayed, including historic front pages, photographs, illustrations and handwritten manuscripts. Together, they charted Le Figaro’s evolution from a 19th-century satirical publication into a leading national daily, reflecting eras of revolution, war, cultural change and technological disruption.
The exhibition unfolded across a series of thematic spaces, guiding visitors through defining moments in the paper’s past — from its literary golden age to its role in political debate and its transition into the digital era. Particular attention was paid to the newspaper’s long association with prominent writers and intellectuals, underscoring the close relationship between journalism and cultural life in France.
Beyond the displays, the program extended into live journalism. Public editorial meetings, panel discussions and film screenings invited audiences to engage directly with editors, writers and media figures, turning the exhibition into a forum for debate about the future of the press and freedom of expression.
Hosted at the Grand Palais, the setting itself reinforced the exhibition’s ambition: to place journalism firmly within the country’s cultural heritage. While the exhibition has now concluded, the bicentennial celebrations continue through special publications and broadcasts, reaffirming Le Figaro’s place in France’s public life — and the enduring relevance of a free and questioning press in an age of rapid change.
