Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced on January 19 that the company no longer considers Ukraine’s Azov Regiment to be a “dangerous organization.” The far-right paramilitary group grew out of the street gangs that helped topple Ukraine’s president in the US-backed 2014 coup. Originally funded by the same Ukrainian oligarch that backed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s rise to power, Azov was on the front lines of civil war in Eastern Ukraine, and was later fully integrated into the Ukrainian national guard.
The main outlet to report on this move was the Kyiv Independent (1/19/23), a Ukrainian newsroom closely linked to Western “democracy promotion” initiatives. These ties are reflected in its coverage of Facebook’s move. Take the description of the Azov Regiment:
The group has sparked controversy over its alleged association with far-right groups—a recurring theme used by Russian propaganda.
The “association” with “far-right groups” has been far more than “alleged,” and is well documented and openly acknowledged by members of the organization. Even the use of “far-right” downplays the fact that they have regularly been seen sporting Nazi symbols and even making Nazi salutes. NATO was forced to apologize after tweeting a photo of the regiment, circulated as part of public relations for the war, in which a soldier was wearing a symbol from the Third Reich (Newsweek, 3/9/22).
Even the logo of the Regiment is a variant of a popular Nazi symbol. Another Nazi symbol affiliated with Azov was printed on the Christchurch, New Zealand, shooter’s jacket as he opened fire on multiple mosques in 2019.
The founder of the regiment once asserted (Guardian, 3/13/18) that Ukraine’s mission was to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade…against Semite-led Untermenschen.”
Even the US Congress, who was funding the Ukrainian military years before the war, acknowledged the regiment’s neo-Nazi affiliation. In 2018, it passed a law restricting those funds from going to Azov fighters (The Hill, 3/27/18). However, officials on the ground acknowledged that there was never any real mechanism preventing the aid from reaching Azov (Daily Beast, 12/8/19).
The Kyiv Independent article was republished in the US press by Yahoo News (1/19/23)—with a note appended with a link to the Independent’s Patreon fundraising account.
The Washington Post (1/21/23) also reported on the move, suggesting that the “Azov Regiment” is now separate from the “Azov Movement,” since the Regiment is now formally under the control of the Ukrainian military. The Post, which called the Regiment “controversial,” did not criticize Meta’s move, and instead highlighted Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, who praised the decision.
The tech news site Engadget (1/21/23) noted that “the change will allow members of the unit to create Facebook and Instagram accounts.”
Backing NATO PR
This isn’t the first time that the platform’s policies were used to promote US public relations objectives. In February 2022, Facebook announced that it would carve out an exception to its policy against praising white supremacy to accommodate the Azov Regiment (Business Insider, 2/25/22). In March 2022, Facebook announced it would allow posts calling for violence against Russians within the context of the invasion (Intercept, 4/13/22). This included allowing users to call for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and even Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Facebook encouraged even more ethnic hate against Russians by relaxing policies on violent or hateful speech against Russian individuals. Materials reviewed by the Intercept (4/13/22) showed that Facebook and Instagram users were now allowed to call for the “explicit removal [of] Russians from Ukraine and Belarus.” In sharp contrast with its policy against allowing graphic images of the victims of Israel’s attacks on Palestine, the platform began to allow users to post such images from Russia’s invasion (Intercept, 8/27/22).
All of this has contributed to the normalization, or even embrace of neo-Nazis in the US. Early in the war, Western media uncritically promoted an Azov publicity event while making no mention of the group’s Nazi ties (FAIR.org, 2/23/22). In October, the New York Times (10/4/22) wrote a laudatory article about “Ukraine’s celebrated Azov Battalion” that completely ignored the group’s Nazi ties (FAIR.org, 10/6/22). An Azov soldier with a Nazi tattoo was even welcomed to Disney World by liberal icon Jon Stewart (Grayzone, 8/31/22).
All of this comes as US media promote ostensible concern about the growth and influence of the far right at home. This blind spot is especially egregious, given the numerous accounts of US white supremacists going to Ukraine to train with the Azov Regiment in preparation of a new US civil war (Vice, 2/6/20).
Featured image: Photo of an Azov memorial service featuring flags with the SS’s wolfsangel symbol, used by Engadget (1/21/23) to illustrate its story “Meta Takes Ukraine’s Controversial Azov Regiment Off Its Dangerous Organizations List.”
Ira Dember
So let’s see… Corporate America and the US Government embrace the Azov explicitly Nazi military unit. Meanwhile, the same powers vilify Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for spotlighting injustices (read: war crimes and crimes against humanity) committed against Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military and Israel’s explicitly racist and increasingly theocratic national government.
Support Omar and condemn Ukraine. As Kissinger famously said of Iran and Iraq when those nations warred on each other: “It’s a pity they both can’t lose.” We could say the same of Russia and Nazi-infested Ukraine.
Ezra Teter
The supermarket shooter in Buffalo also wore the black sun emblem.
Garry Compton
The big elephant in the room, are the Zionist Neocons that hired the Azov boyz at the Maidan in Kiev – 2014. PS: They still work for them today.
Pujete
Ukraine’s mission was to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade…against Semite-led Untermenschen.”
At least they’re finally acknowledging that Palestinians are Semites.
Pink & Blue Prince
I wish FAIR would become the MSM and let Fox, CNN, MSNBC etc. go the way of the dinosaurs. Democrats are more antiwar when Republicans are in charge and vice-versa. Some Democrats and Republicans are pro-war no matter who is in charge.
If Hitler were living today, Ukraine would let him become their president and start a world war. Lindsay Graham says Putin should be assassinated. If a politician from another country even if they were not the leader said Bush should be assassinated because of his wars, Obama should be assassinated because of his drone strikes and wars, Trump should be assassinated because of his wars and drone strike in Iran and Biden because of his endless wars in the ME and the war he caused to start between Russia and Ukraine should be assassinated, the NATO countries would call it an act of war.