Meta declared as a terrorist organization by Russia

According to a Federal Service for Financial Monitoring database, Russia added Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, to its list of “terrorist and extremist” organisations (Rosfinmonitoring).

After authorities accused Meta of condoning “Russophobia” amid Russia’s military incursion in Ukraine, Russia banned Facebook and Instagram in late March for “carrying out terrorist activity.”

Meta’s appeal was denied by a Moscow court in June after it was deemed responsible for “extremist conduct” in Russia in March. At the time, Meta’s attorney testified in court that Meta was not engaging in extremist activity and was opposed to “Russophobia.”

Tech companies in Europe have demonetised and even blacklisted Russian state-sponsored media as reprisal. There are still no signs of an end to the conflict between Russian and Ukrainian soldiers as the ninth month begins. On the second day of intense missile barrages across Ukraine, Russian assaults on the region of Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine on Tuesday caused “severe” damage to energy installations, the region’s leader claimed, according to AFP.

This choice places Meta on the same list as right-wing nationalist organisations, international terrorist groups like the Taliban, and Russian opposition organisations.