Russia bans Facebook & Instagram, leaves WhatsApp untouched

A Russian court has accused Meta of extremist activity for allowing Facebook and Instagram users to post threats of violence and death against Russian soldiers and President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow's Tverskoi District Court said it had upheld a lawsuit filed by state prosecutors to prohibit Meta from operating on the Russian territory, according to Reuters.

Earlier this month, Facebook and Instagram allegedly notified content moderators that, as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the social media platforms would accept posts that would normally be considered against the rules of violent speech.

It was also reported that the platforms would permit demands for violence against Russian leaders such as Putin. Although Meta has denied this accusation, the Court still said it was guilty of extremism, putting it in company with the Taliban and Islamic State - both of whom Russia has labelled as extremist organisations in the past.

As a result of these decisions, state prosecutors filed a lawsuit seeking to block the firm from operating on Russian soil.

Victoria Shagina, Meta's lawyer, told the court that the firm was not engaged in extremist activities and was opposed to Russophobia.

The new ruling means Meta is no longer allowed to open offices or do any business in Russia.

However, the Court's decision will have no impact on Meta's popular WhatsApp messenger service in the country.

'The decision does not apply to the activities of Meta's messenger WhatsApp, due to its lack of functionality for the public dissemination of information,' the court said.

WhatsApp has previously been used to spread misinformation, but Meta (then Facebook) took steps to limit its ability to spread.

According to a Deloitte poll from 2021, around 80 per cent of Russians over the age of 14 use WhatsApp to communicate, although Telegram has recently overtaken it as Russia's leading communication service due to uncertainties over the latter's future.

Instagram and Facebook were already banned in Russia after Roskomnadzor, the country's communications and media regulator, said they were being used to call for violence against Russian soldiers.

Russian authorities banned Instagram after Meta announced a moderation policy that allowed Ukrainians to post messages urging violence against Vladimir Putin and Russian forces.

Meta has recently clarified that it guidance should never be understood as supporting violence against Russians in general.

In addition to Facebook and Instagram, Russia has also blocked access to some international media websites such as Voice of America, BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Radio Free Europe.

Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor said on Monday that it would remove Meta from the list of foreign firms operating on the Internet in Russia, as well as Instagram and Facebook from the register of social networks.

A representative for the prosecutor's office told Tass that Russian individuals will not be accused of extremism just for using Meta's platforms or services - if they can access them.

Many Russians have downloaded VPNs in recent weeks to retain access to Western-owned websites that the government has blacklisted.