As reported by the Interfax news agency, Russia has chosen to add the American internet corporation Meta to its list of terrorists and extremists. The warning was issued by Rosfinmonitoring, Russia’s financial monitoring organisation, as the situation in Ukraine intensifies. Last Monday, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia submitted a written request for this restriction.
Facebook’s parent firm, Meta, is controlled by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg. This year in March, a Moscow court declared Meta responsible for extremist conduct in Russia. The lawsuit was brought against Meta because it was claimed that it had permitted messages encouraging violence against the Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Due to this choice, users in Russia will not have access to any of Meta’s services, including the very popular social networking sites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. According to Insider, the ban may go into action quickly if the administration so chooses.
In March, Russia’s tech regulator barred access to Facebook, accusing the social-media platform of discrimination and alleging that it had limited user access to government-backed news channels such as Sputnik and Russia Today. According to Reuters, which cited many internal emails, Meta briefly permitted messages calling for violence against Russian invaders from users in countries like Ukraine and Poland.
Zuckerberg is already listed on the list of those who have been denied entry to Russia by the Russian foreign ministry since April. The US Vice President Kamala Harris, the CEO of LinkedIn Ryan Roslansky and more than 900 other US residents were on the list along with the tech millionaire. Rosfinmonitoring said that Meta had been unfair in its coverage of the Ukraine-Russia situation, according to the official statement. The corporation discriminates against Russian news organisations and has censored user access to websites like Sputnik and Russia Today.
According to Reuters, Meta’s attorney refuted the accusations, telling the court that the group was opposed to xenophobia and had never engaged in extremist behaviour.
Since February 24, when Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has tightened its control over social media. Because it believes they are encouraging violence against Russians, it has blocked access to Western social media sites. European internet businesses have responded by demonetizing and even blacklisting state-sponsored media from Russia. Because it believes that Western social media sites are promoting violence against Russians, it has blocked access to them. In reaction, European digital companies have demonetised and even blacklisted Russian state sponsored media.
The conflict between Russian and Ukrainian soldiers has reached its ninth month, with no sign of an end in sight. On the second day of large missile salvos throughout Ukraine, Russia struck the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk on Tuesday, causing “severe” damage to energy infrastructure, according to the area’s leader. Russian missiles were fired against energy facilities in the Pavlograd and Kamian districts. There is significant devastation. Many communities still without energy Valentin Reznichenko, the regional governor, stated on social media. This comes only one day after Russian soldiers unleashed the largest aircraft bombardment on Ukraine since the war began.
