Russian court upholds Facebook and Instagram ban over Meta's 'extremist activity'

Russian court upholds Facebook and Instagram ban over Meta’s ‘extremist activity’

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s regime quickly moved to block the Russian population fromaccessing international platforms like Facebook and Instagram. A Moscow court has confirmed the decision, ruling that Meta is guilty of “extremist activity.” However, WhatsApp remains operational in the country and isn’t affected by the ban, with the court saying that the messenger couldn’t be used for “the public dissemination of information,” asReutersreports.

The Russian censorship body Roskomnadzor has additionally removed Meta from the list of companies permitted to operate on the internet in Russia, with Facebook and Instagram also being crossed out from the list of allowed social networks. News publications in Russia are forced to label Facebook and Instagram as prohibited entities when covering them and aren’t allowed to use the social networks' logos any longer.

It’s unclear whether websites linking to their Facebook and Instagram accounts using the logos or shops displaying them in their stores will be held accountable, too. Russian news agency TASS cites a prosecutor in court saying, “Individuals will not be prosecuted simply for using Meta’s services,” but human rights activists aren’t so sure about this promise. They fear that any public display of the symbols could lead to charges or up to 15 days of imprisonment.

The decision to exclude WhatsApp from this ruling is weird, given that Russian courts have previously either completely blocked a company or not at all, and it’s unclear how WhatsApp should remain operationalable when Meta is otherwise banned from commercial activities. Given that it’s one of the most popular ways for the Russian population to communicate with friends and family, the court may have come to this decision to show some concessions towards the population.

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