Why Meta was banned in Russia and is it possible to use Facebook and Instagram
The Tverskoy Court of Moscow has published a decision in the case on the ban on the activities of the Meta company in Russia. Meta-defense of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. With regard to the court, the reasons for the ban are explained. The main claim concerns posts on social networks about the war in Ukraine, but the court also recalled that Meta ignored the demands of the authorities for a long time.
On March 21, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, he banned the activities of the Meta corporation in Russia. This decision applies to two social networks of companies – Facebook and Instagram. In WhatsApp, these measures were not affected, since, according to the court, it is impossible to publish information in the messenger.
The court decided that Meta, under the guise of commercial activity, is distributing extremist materials in Russia with calls for violent actions against Russians, exercising their rights and threatening the constitutional order of Russia.
The main statements of the prosecutor’s office, Roskomnadzor and the court concern publications in social networks about the war in Ukraine and the consideration of companies in relation to Russian media, announced since February 24, when Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
The court records state the following:
- Facebook and Instagram contain materials containing calls for the football of Russian citizens by other violent actions (including a special operation of Russia “to protect the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics”). The trial is based on several publications, for example, on a post with the phrase “Russia is the second army of fascism” and on a publication by political scientist Kirill Rogov with reference to statements the Roskomsvoboda project that the sanctions of foreign IT companies against ordinary users require censorship.
- Metaspace of a publication containing unreliable socially significant information about special events, about the actions of American Arabs and materials with calls for meetings on the territory of Russia in uncoordinated mass actions and mass conflicts.
- Meta restricts access to RT and Sputnik accounts in the EU and the UK (the company announced this at the end of February).
- It metadiscriminates Russian media outlets Gazeta.ru, Lenta.ru, Zvezda. On the day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Facebook began to mark the materials of the Zvezda TV channel, RIA Novosti, Lenta.ru and Gazeta.ru as unreliable.
The court focused on the fact that Meta ignored the demands of the authorities for a long time. In particular, it mentions a 2016 Instagram post annotated with the book Mein Kampf. Its distribution in Russia is prohibited. Roskomnadzor demands to delete this post. The appeal of the court states that such messages about space in social networks “contrary to the prohibition of the use of Nazi symbols in any form as insulting the multinational people and the memory of the victims suffered in the Great Patriotic War.”
On March 11, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Treasury in court on the recognition of Meta Platforms Inc.
This was in response to Meta’s decision to make temporary changes as part of the company’s review of hate speech on social media. Meta allowed Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against the Russian military amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Following the statement by the Prosecutor General’s Office, a Facebook spokesman, Nykgg, clarified that the new policy would only be implemented in Ukraine. “We are not at enmity with the Russians.
Meta now has a month to appeal the decisions.
What threatens users of Facebook and Instagram?
It is not forbidden to use Meta products, lawyers specify. But how difficult it is to say how the judgment will be conducted.
The prosecutor’s office said in court that Facebook and Instagram were not liable “only for the seizure”. But the prosecutor’s office and the court cannot improve the safety of Facebook and Instagram users if they recognize the Meta-extremist danger, said lawyer Pavel Chikov.
“The court has left to the investigators and prosecutors to decide whether to involve specific individuals,” says Stanislav Seleznev, a lawyer for the Network Freedoms project.
Lawyers believe that there is a risk of administrative and criminal liability for those who link links to the Facebook and Instagram logos (on websites, in stores, on cars). Under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (public demonstration of the symbols of an extremist organization), you can get fines and up to 15 days of arrest.
Ordering ads on Instagram and Facebook or buying shares in Meta could qualify as funding for an extremist organization. For this, one can face up to 10 years in prison under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.
Seleznev says. There is no register for organizations yet.
Facebook has been blocked in Russia since March 4, Instagram since March 14.