Russia has officially classified US giant Meta, a Facebook and Instagram company, as a “terrorist and extremist” organization, paving the way for lawsuits against users.
Meta has been included in the list of “terrorist and extremist” organizations of the Russian financial supervision service, AFP noted on the portal of this government body on Tuesday.
In March, a Russian court declared Meta “extremist” and Instagram and Facebook were blocked in Russia.
on March 10, Meta announced that platforms could allow posts such as “death to Russian invaders” but not threats against civilians, though it later clarified that this would only apply to users posting from Ukraine.
Since March, internet users in Russia are no longer able to access Instagram or Facebook. Therefore, many in that country use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access social networks.
Instagram is very popular in Russia and used to be an important platform for advertising and sales. The Russian body’s decision puts the US company on a par with far-right nationalist groups, foreign terrorist organizations and Russian opposition groups.
Source: DN
