Facebook on Wednesday reversed a decision to take down a video posted by a Hungarian political aide that blamed crime on immigrants, saying it was making an exception to its usual ban on hate speech.
The incident was the latest test of how Facebook, the world’s largest social media network, and other internet firms will negotiate the tricky business of refereeing online political content.
The video was posted to Facebook on Tuesday by the chief of staff to the Hungarian prime minister. It focused on crime in neighbouring Austria and blamed immigrants for pushing out “white Christians”.
Janos Lazar, the top aide to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who himself was called a racist by the U.N. human rights chief this week, accused Facebook of censorship after the social network removed his post.