Russia bans Facebook and Instagram for extremist activity – Quartz

For the second time this month, Facebook and Instagram have been banned in Russia. On March 21, a judge in Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court ruled that Facebook and Instagram, the social media services owned by the US-based company Meta, committed extremist activities. The news, first reported by the Russian state-owned news service TASS, said the ruling will not affect the encrypted messaging application WhatsApp, which is also owned by Meta. About 7% of Russians use Facebook, according to eMarketer research, but 51% use Instagram and 66% use WhatsApp.The court decision comes after the Roskomnadzor, the Russian state communications agency, banned Facebook on March 4 and Instagram on March 14. The agency said that Facebook engaged in “discrimination against Russian media” after labeling Russian state-run media and limiting its algorithmic reach on the website’s news feed. In recent weeks, Facebook has amended its hate speech policy to temporarily allow its users to call for violence against Russian soldiers in Ukraine.Under the new charges, any Meta employees could be criminally liable in Russia (though it does not have any based there). Russian ad-buyers could also be on the hook for charges of financing extremism, reported TASS. Facebook did not immediately respond to…
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