According to Reuters, Russia added social networking giant Meta to its list of terrorist and extremist organizations on Tuesday.
The Russian government blocked social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in March. A Moscow court had also accused the Mark Zuckerberg-owned social media platform of extremist activity, alleging that it allowed Ukrainian social media users to post content promoting violence against Russians.
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On the other hand, On March 10, Meta announced that the platforms would allow statements such as “death to Russian invaders,” but not credible threats against civilians, before clarifying that the change only applied to users posting from within Ukraine.
Russia has just added Meta, Facebook and Instagram to their list of terrorist and extremist organizations.
Well, Russia has the right idea on that one!
— Lavern Spicer đŸ‡ºđŸ‡¸ (@lavern_spicer) October 11, 2022
After authorities accused Meta of tolerating “Russophobia” during Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, Russia banned Facebook and Instagram in late March for “carrying out extremist activities.”
In June, a Moscow court denied Meta’s appeal after it was found guilty of “extremist activity” in Russia in March. Meta’s lawyer at the time stated in court that Meta was not engaging in extremist activity and was opposed to “Russophobia.”
According to the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring’s Rosfinmonitoring database, Russia added US tech giant Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, to a list of “terrorist and extremist” organizations on Tuesday.
Meta owns the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. Facebook and Instagram, two of Meta’s most popular platforms, are already illegal in Russia, and the court later stated that the ruling would not apply to WhatsApp.
According to Reuters, Meta’s lawyer then denied the allegations, telling the court that the organization had never engaged in extremist activities and was opposed to Russophobia.
Since Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Kremlin has stiffened its grip on social media. It has barred access to Western social media platforms, accusing them of inciting violence against Russians. In retaliation, European tech companies have demonetized and even blocked Russian state-sponsored media.
