Russia adds Meta to 'terrorist and extremist' groups list

Russia adds Meta to ‘terrorist and extremist’ groups list

By : AFP

Date: 11 October 2022 3:57pm WAT

Meta

(FILES) In this file photo illustration taken on October 28, 2021, in Los Angeles, shows the Facebook like logo on a smartphone in front of a computer screen showing the parent company META logo. – Meta warned a million Facebook users on October 7, 2022 that they have been “exposed” to seemingly innocuous smartphone applications designed to steal passwords to the social network. So far this year, Meta has identified more than 400 “malicious” apps tailored for smartphones powered by Apple or Android software and available at the Apple and Google app stores, director of threat disruption David Agranovich said during a briefing. (Photo by Chris DELMAS / AFP)

Russia on Tuesday added US tech giant Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, to a list of “terrorist and extremist” organisations, according to a database of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring).

Russia in late March banned Facebook and Instagram for “carrying out extremist activities” after authorities accused Meta of tolerating “Russophobia” during Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.

Meta had announced on March 10 that the platforms would allow statements like “death to Russian invaders” but not credible threats against civilians, before saying the change only applied to users posting from inside Ukraine.

Facebook and Instagram have been inaccessible in Russia since March, but many Russians resorted to VPN to keep using the social media network.

Instagram is particularly popular in Russia and used to be a key platform for advertisement and sales.

Billions of people use Meta’s app around the world.

This decision puts Meta on the same list as right-wing nationalist groups and foreign terrorist organisations including the Taliban and Russian opposition groups.