Russian Court Upholds Ban on Facebook, Instagram

Today, Monday, The Moscow City Court upheld a Russia-wide ban on the applications of the Meta corporation, "Facebook" and "Instagram".

A Meta's representative at the meeting noted that the court had no authority to consider the case against the international corporation, in addition, it did not give enough time to familiarize itself with the case materials, which the California office received in Russian without translation.

The representative emphasized that Meta's policy does not allow calls for violence against the Russian people, and opposes "Russophobia."

The lawyer called the ban a disproportionate measure contrary to the interests of Russian citizens.

The Public Prosecutor objected to the appeal, indicating that Meta systematically publishes illegal information, discriminates against Russian media, and encourages the killing of Russian citizens.

He pointed out that the court considered the case within its jurisdiction because the Russian courts have the right to consider cases brought against foreign companies.

The prosecutor highlighted that the corporation was repeatedly responsible for not deleting extremist information, and these decisions have entered into legal force.

Previously, the Magistrate's Court of Tagansky District of the Russian capital, Moscow, fined Meta Platforms 4 million rubles (about $52,000), for failing to delete prohibited content.

Konstantin Kosachev, the Senator of the Russian Federation Council, called for the ban on the activities of the social media platforms "Facebook" and "Instagram", against the background of allowing their users to post calls about violence against Russians.

Meta Platforms announced that, in the context of the situation in Ukraine, it will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to advocate violence against Russian citizens and troops, according to the corporation's internal documents, which were reported by Reuters.

Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor announced earlier that it was banning Facebook in Russia due to massive discrimination against Russian media and information sources, including RIA Novosti, Sputnik, and RT TV.