Russia adds Meta to 'terrorist and extremist' groups list
Meta's applications have been inaccessible in Russia since March
MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday added US tech giant Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, to a list of "terrorist and extremist" organisations, according to a database of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring).
Russia in late March banned Facebook and Instagram for "carrying out extremist activities" after authorities accused Meta of tolerating "Russophobia" during Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.
Meta had announced on March 10 that the platforms would allow statements like "death to Russian invaders" but not credible threats against civilians, before saying the change only applied to users posting from inside Ukraine.
Facebook and Instagram have been inaccessible in Russia since March, but many Russians resorted to VPN to keep using the social media network.
Instagram is particularly popular in Russia, and used to be a key platform for advertisement and sales.
Billions of people use Meta's app around the world.
This decision puts Meta on the same list as right-wing nationalist groups, foreign terrorist organisations including Russian opposition groups.
-
Sun appears spotless for first time in four years, scientists report -
SpaceX launches another batch of satellites from Cape Canaveral during late-night mission on Saturday -
NASA targets March 6 for launch of crewed mission around moon following successful rocket fueling test -
Greenland ice sheet acts like ‘churning molten rock,’ scientists find -
Space-based solar power could push the world beyond net zero: Here’s how -
Hidden ‘dark galaxy' traced by ancient star clusters could rewrite the cosmic galaxy count -
Astronauts face life threatening risk on Boeing Starliner, NASA says -
Giant tortoise reintroduced to island after almost 200 years