FP StaffOct 12, 2022 10:16:06 IST
Meta, formerly known as Facebook is now a terrorist and extremist organisation in Russia. Russia has decided to add the US-based tech giant Meta to its list of “terrorists and extremists,” according to a report by the Interfax news agency. The announcement was made by Russia’s financial monitoring agency – Rosfinmonitoring – as the conflict gains momentum in Ukraine.
Meta and founder Mark Zuckerberg were found guilty of allowing posts on Facebook and Instagram that called for violence against the Russian military. Image from file.
Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office submitted a written request for this ban last week.
A case was filed against Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, after the platform allowed a few posts on its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram to stay, which called for violence against the Russian military in Ukraine. A court in Moscow found Meta to be guilty of “extremist activity” against the Russian state.
Because of this ruling people in Russia will not be able to access any of the services that Meta provides. This includes Instagram, Facebook, as well as WhatsApp this time, but is not limited to these two social media platforms. Although the ban on these two platforms hasn’t been implemented yet, a report by Insider suggests that the ban can come into effect almost immediately depending on the government’s will.
Mark Zuckerberg who owns Meta and was one of the co-accused in the case, was already on the list of individuals who were barred by the Russian foreign ministry from entering the country. Back in April this year, the Russian foreign ministry had put out a list of more than 900 American and Canadian citizens who were barred from entering the country, and if certain Russian lawmakers are to be believed, upon whom Russia would eventually impose sanctions. Apart from Mark Zuckerberg, the list included the Vice President of US Kamala Harris, Ryan Roslansky who is the CEO of LinkedIn, and several other tech entrepreneurs.
In the official statement, Rosfinmonitoring said that Meta has been biased towards the western countries in the coverage of the Ukraine-Russia crisis. They said that the company is “discriminating” against Russian news outlets and have restricted user access to outlets like Sputnik and Russia Today.
Facebook and Instagram had been inaccessible in Russia since March of this year, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. However, the platforms were not banned immediately back then. Meta withdrew their services from the country, following which, Russia also banned Facebook and Instagram, but now WhatsApp.
Because it wasn’t banned by Russian ISPs, users could still access the platforms through VPNs. Now, even though, Russia has banned the platform, users may still be able to access these platforms through VPNs, but they risk getting severe punishment from Russian authorities.
