Russian court bans Instagram, Facebook for inciting violence, extremism

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On Monday, the Tverskoy district court of Moscow ruled to ban Facebook and Instagram in Russia for inciting violence and extremism, according to a Sputnik correspondent. 

The decision will be enforced immediately as the court said. The ban on Meta's activities will not apply to WhatsApp, however. 

Upon a Meta request to stop the proceedings in the Moscow court regarding a lawsuit lodged by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office to ban Facebook and Instagram, the Moscow court declined such a request. 

Read more: Facebook blocked in Russia as Moscow backs prison time for 'fake news'

 

Last week, a Moscow district court told Sputnik it had received a statement from the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia calling for recognizing Meta as an extremist organization.

Moscow court receives claim to recognize Meta as extremist

A Moscow district court told Sputnik recently it had received a statement from the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia calling for recognizing Meta as an extremist organization.

A court representative said a civil case on banning the tech giant was scheduled for trial in the coming days.

"A civil case on the statement of claim of the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia in the interests of an indefinite circle of persons against transnational holding company Meta Platforms Inc. on the ban on the activities of the organization on the grounds of carrying out extremist activities is scheduled for trial in a court session on March 21, 2022, at 11:00 [Moscow time]," the representative said.

Meta had two weeks ago permitted its users to incite violence against the Russians and Russian soldiers on its social media platforms in light of Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine.

Following Meta's move, Russia blocked Instagram. 

This was not Meta's first app to be prohibited in the federation, as Facebook was blocked in Russia after several instances of its discrimination against Russian state media.