Russia Declares Meta Guilty Of “Extremist Activity”

March 21, 2022 Russia, Social Media

A Moscow court on Monday found Meta Platforms Inc guilty of “extremist activity”, but said its decision would not affect the WhatsApp messenger service, focusing its ire on the company’s already banned Facebook and Instagram social networks.

Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court upheld a lawsuit filed by Russian state prosecutors on banning the activities of Meta on Russian territory, the court’s press service said in a statement.

Russia has in the past designated groups such as the Taliban and Islamic State as “extremist” but later expanded this to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.

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Here’s the judge in Moscow today reading out her verdict declaring Meta to be an illegal extremist organization — effective immediately. pic.twitter.com/yTq73lYqxP

— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) March 21, 2022

A Russian court ruled on Monday that Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is an extremist organization and banned it from operating on Russia’s territory. https://t.co/hyUeLJHm9G

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) March 21, 2022