MEXICO CITY — Meta’s moves to restrict political content on its platforms could limit people’s ability to express dissent or their awareness during crises like the situation following the Venezuelan election, a panel overseeing the company said Thursday in a ruling involving videos recorded after the South American country’s July election.

The semi-independent Oversight Board called on the social media giant to apply its existing crisis protocol “to ensure that political content has the same reach as other types of content during times of crisis.”

The decision comes after Meta began limiting the amount of political news and content it made available to users following years of criticism about the company’s handling of misinformation and whether it contributed to political polarization.

Meta established a board in 2020 to be an arbiter of content on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The company asked the board about two videos related to pro-government armed groups, known in Venezuela as “colectivos,” that were released after the July 28 presidential election, the official result of which sparked protests across the country.

One video, posted on Instagram, shows a group of armed men on motorcycles pulling up to an apartment complex. A woman can be heard shouting in Spanish that “colectivos” were trying to get into the building, while the person recording the video can be heard shouting in the same language, “Go to hell! I hope they kill you all!”

Meta found the video did not violate its policies because “the phrase was a conditional or aspirational statement against a violent actor, not a call to action,” according to the decision. The board agreed with the company.

A second video reviewed by the Oversight Board was posted on Facebook. It shows people running and a group of men, possibly “colectivos,” riding motorcycles. The man who recorded the video can be heard saying the group is attacking people on the street. A caption in Spanish accompanying the post criticizes government security forces for failing to protect people from brutal gangs loyal to the ruling party and calls on state forces to “kill these damned colectivos.”

Meta removed the video because it constituted a “call to action to commit high-level violence,” according to the decision. The board disagreed, finding it to be similar to an Instagram post and, in the current context of Venezuela, “understood as an aspirational statement.”

“The Board recognizes Meta’s concerns that allowing this type of expression could contribute to an increased risk of offline violence in the ongoing crisis,” according to the decision. “However, given the specific context of Venezuela, where widespread repression and violence are carried out in concert by state forces and colectivos, and where there are strong restrictions on people’s rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, it is fundamental to allow people to freely express their dissent, anger, or desperation, even if it involves the use of strong language.”

Thousands of people, including minors, took to the streets across Venezuela hours after ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the July 28 election. The protests were largely peaceful, but demonstrators also toppled statues of Maduro’s predecessor, the late leader Hugo Chávez, threw rocks at law enforcement officers and buildings, and burned police motorcycles and government propaganda.

Maduro and his ruling party allies, who control all aspects of government, have responded to the demonstrations with full force. A report Wednesday by Human Rights Watch blamed Venezuelan security forces and “colectivos” for some of the 24 deaths that have occurred during the protests.

While the National Electoral Council declared Maduro a winner, it never released voting results to support that claim. However, the main opposition coalition claimed that its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo González, defeated Maduro by a 2-to-1 margin and presented voting results from more than 80% of electronic voting machines used in the election as evidence.

Meta, then called Facebook, launched the Oversight Board four years ago in response to criticism that it was not moving quickly enough to remove disinformation, hate speech and influence campaigns from its platforms. The board is made up of 21 members, an international group that includes lawyers, human rights experts and journalists.