The Moscow Court today rejected the appeal of the technological giant Meta against the ruling in the first instance that declared it on March 21 "extremist organization" and left in force the ban in Russia of its social networks Facebook and Instagram.
"The appeal has been dismissed. The ruling of the Tverskoi court of March 21 remains unchanged"Judge Alexandr Ponomariov pronounced, quoted by the Interfax agency. The judgment at first instance banned in Russia the social networks Facebook and Instagram, managed by Meta, which the Attorney General’s Office accused of carrying out "extremist activities". The judicial decision does not extend to the WhatsApp messaging service, also managed by Meta, because it does not disseminate information publicly. The Attorney General’s Office demanded to veto the activities of Meta because the technological giant temporarily lifted the ban on residents of several countries to publish information calling for violence against Russian citizens in the wake of the "special military operation" launched by the Kremlin in Ukraine. The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case due to Meta’s refusal to remove calls to violence against the Russians, including the military. In a statement, company spokesman Andy Stone explained that the exceptions were allowed on a temporary basis due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine if they did not include death threats. "credible" against Russian civilians. However, Meta allowed calls for the death of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, issued from Ukraine, Poland and Russia itself.