When it comes to operating on the international stage, Facebook has to walk a fine line between respecting the laws of every country while also protecting user privacy. That dilemma was once again on display this week when Russia announced that it would sue the social media giant for not deleting posts that urged users to participate in protests against the Russian government.

While Facebook is based in the United States, it often finds itself at odds with autocratic countries like Russia that want to use the platform as a tool to oppress its citizens. Sometimes Facebook caves to these demands and lands in hot water with human rights organizations. But this time, Facebook did not — and now it’s being called out By Russia for not helping to stop protests that the country has deemed illegal.

“This decision from Facebook violates the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, like the right to disseminate and receive information,” Russian lawmaker Vyacheslav Volodin said in a statement. “This is not the first time this has happened on the part of Facebook — Instagram and Twitter have done the same previously. I think this is unacceptable.”

As a business, there’s no clean answer here for Facebook. But ethically, it’s undeniably better for the company to land on the side of protecting user privacy.

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