In my mind the facemask penalty exists because it is a safety issue, not necessarily because it gives an unfair advantage (although it does). From the perspective of safety they should call it no matter what the intent is. You could nearly rip a players head off by accident with a facemask with zero intent while making a tackle.
I agree that it’s a matter of degree on whether it should be called. I think they got rid of the 5 yard facemask for that reason (so small incidental facemasks don’t get called).