Russia recognized Meta as an extremist organization and banned social networks Facebook and Instagram
The Tverskoy Court of Moscow accepted the meta-extremist electoral activity and banned its activity in Russia. Meta owns social networks and instant messengers – Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp. But the government has no complaints about the latter yet.
The decision takes effect immediately. During the trial, a representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office clarified that if meta is banned in Russia, Facebook and Instagram users will not be banned from bypassing the block.
The prohibition measures will not affect WhatsApp – the Prosecutor General’s Office found that the messenger does not have a “function for the public dissemination of information.”
Attorney General’s Office of Meta Platforms Inc. election campaign. The very next day after that, on March 12, Meta clarified that moderation was weakened only for posts written in Ukraine.
“Under the guise of commercial activity on meta-platforms <...> materials with calls for violent actions of an extremist nature against Russian citizens are distributed on the territory of the Russian Federation, ”the lawsuit says.
How was the trial
The representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office and Meta’s lawyer, representatives of Roskomnadzor and the FSB at the court hearing, writes “Mediazona” – the publication is recognized in Russia as performing the functions of a “foreign agent”.
“The activities of the Meta organization are directed against Russia and its armed forces. We ask you to ban the activities of Meta and oblige to execute this decision immediately,” FSB spokesman Igor Kovalevsky said in the Tverskoy court. Roskomnadzor requires support.
“Russophobia is not just there, it is also being forced,” prosecutor Natalya Gashulina said.
When Gashulina explained that it was the use of Facebook and Instagram that would not be considered an extremist position, the judge clarified: “Explain to me as an average person. We will wake up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, will we not have Facebook in the country?”
“He is not here now either,” the prosecutor answered curtly.
Lawyer Victoria Shakina during her speech that the new meta-rules do not allow calls for violence against representatives of representatives. She also noted that the company itself is not the author of publications.
“The plaintiff has not proven that all the materials distributed by the services are contrary to the law,” the lawyer explained and suggested that the court oblige the meta-announcement to exclude the publication.
“Even [Meta] she is not interested [запрещенную информацию], use social networks as tools for such a publication. As we can see, the meta not only does not track such publications, but also allows them to exist,” the prosecutor said.
During the debate, FSB spokesman Igor Kovalevsky praised Roskomnadzor and the Prosecutor General’s Office for their “tremendous work” in the proceedings. According to him, Meta will take on “counter-target and special operations tasks required to enhance the military.”
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