Meta added to the list of ‘terrorist and extremist’ groups by Russia’s Financial Supervisory Authority: All details

Russia’s financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring, has added US tech giant Meta to its list of “terrorists and extremists”, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday. A Moscow court in June rejected an appeal by Meta – the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – after being found guilty of “radical activity” in Russia in March. In court, his lawyer Meta at the time said that Meta did not engage in extreme activity and was against Russophobia. Meta did not respond to an email request for comment on Tuesday.

Rosfinmonitoring’s list concerns “organizations and individuals with information about their participation in extremist or terrorist activities”.

Moscow has restricted access to Facebook and Instagramalthough many Russian users still access them using virtual private network (VPN), demand spiked when some Western internet services were blocked in March.

State media regulator Roskomnadzor has updated its list of banned VPNs, TASS news agency reported on Tuesday. It started trying to block VPNs in 2021, though many continue to do so.

Officials have frequently said MetaIts “extreme” tag does not extend to WhatsApp message service.

“Rosfinmonitoring’s decision to put Meta on the list of extremist organizations in no way changes the situation for users of Meta’s social networks, users of Meta’s products are not breaking the law,” the lawmaker said. senior Andrey Klishas writes on Telegram on Tuesday.

“There are no restrictions regarding WhatsApp messenger,” he added.

However, lawyers and digital rights groups have reported that Facebook and Instagram users are being warned about some of the posts.

Human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov has warned that simply displaying the Instagram and Facebook logos, or advertising on those networks, could be illegal under the law. Russiaof the penal code.