A court in Moscow banned social networks Facebook and Instagram in Russia on Monday, considering that they were engaged in “extremist” activities, Russian news agencies reported.
“We agree to the prosecutor's request to ban the activities of the company Meta,” the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said the judge, according to the agencies.
Social networks run by Meta are “banned for extremist activity,” the court added.
The WhatsApp messaging application, also owned by Meta, is not affected by this measure, as the court found that it is not used as a means of “public dissemination of information”.
Russian security services, the FSB, had demanded an “immediate” ban on Facebook and Instagram on Monday, accusing them of activities “directed against Russia and its armed forces.”
On March 11, the prosecution had asked to classify Meta as an “extremist” organization, a measure that opened the way for the prohibition of all its activities in Russia.
This request came after Meta's decision to relax its rules on violent publications against the Russian army and leaders in connection with the Moscow military operation in Ukraine.
Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have already been blocked in Russia, where they are almost inaccessible, except if a virtual private network (VPN) is used.
Since the beginning of the Russian intervention in Ukraine on February 24, the executive has tightened control of information disseminated on the Internet, one of the last spaces for free expression in the country.
(With information from AFP)
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