Russia bans Facebook and Instagram under ‘Extremism’ Law amid Ukraine crisis
Russia has already banned Facebook for restricting access to Russian media while Instagram was blocked after Meta said it would allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages urging violence against Russian President Vladimir Putin and troops Moscow sent into Ukraine on February 24.
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FollowA Moscow court on Monday banned Facebook and Instagram in Russia after finding Meta Platforms Inc “extremist”, TASS news agency reported. This is the first use of the country’s sweeping law on “extremism” against a foreign technology company.
Russia has already banned Facebook for restricting access to Russian media while Instagram was blocked after Meta said it would allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages urging violence against Russian President Vladimir Putin and troops Moscow sent into Ukraine on February 24.
The presiding judge backed the prosecutor’s request to ban the social networks with immediate effect ruling them “extremist” organizations, Tass reported from the courtroom. The prosecutor argued that Meta’s policies were directed against Russia and its army.
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A lawyer for Meta said the Russian court didn’t have the authority to rule in the case because Meta is a foreign-registered company without a domestic presence, Interfax reported from the hearing. A spokesperson for Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
During Monday’s hearing, Russia’s FSB security service accused Meta of working against Moscow’s interests during the conflict.
“The activities of the Meta organisation are directed against Russia and its armed forces," FSB representative Igor Kovalevsky told the court, Russian news agencies reported. “We ask (the court) to ban Meta’s activities and oblige it to implement this ruling immediately," he said.
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After President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, authorities blocked access in Russia to Facebook and Instagram, as well as to Twitter.
Russia has increasingly sought to control access to information since it attacked Ukraine, and this month passed a new law punishing the intentional spreading of what the authorities deem “fake” news with as much as 15 years in prison. The extremist label caps a year of escalating pressure on US technology companies as regulators levied fines and slowed access in an effort to force the firms to allow the government to determine what is acceptable content.
Other technology giants with local employees could also be targeted with the extremism law. Russia’s internet censor last week warned Alphabet Inc.’s Google to stop using YouTube to spread what it labelled threats against the country’s citizens in what could be a prelude to criminalization.
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