Rosfinmonitoring, Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service, has added Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to its list of terrorists and extremists.
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Meta was officially designated as a terrorist organization for the first time in Russia in March 2022, when a Moscow court alleged that the world's most popular social media platform was hosting what it deemed disinformation.
A month later, in April, Mark Zuckerberg was among several tech executives banned from entering Russia for allegedly promoting a “Russophobic” agenda.
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However, the Federal State's adoption of the "terrorist" classification for Meta marks a new development, leaving millions of Russian users of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp uncertain about what this means.
Russian internet rights organization Roskomsvoboda consulted its lawyers on the meaning of Meta's inclusion on Rosfinmonitoring's list , and they said this development will not prevent users from continuing to use the social media service.
In contrast, Meta's inclusion on the extremist list blocks all financial transactions with the company and its subsidiaries or brands.
This means that users based in Russia will not be able to legally use monetization options on Instagram or Facebook, run ads on the platform, or make transactions in stores hosted on either platform.
It is worth noting that Facebook had already stopped offering the ability to create and run advertising campaigns for Russian users and companies since March 2022 due to "operational difficulties."
However, Russian lawyer Pavel Chikov paints a different picture on Telegram today, saying that the prosecutor's office has now started distributing warnings to Facebook and Instagram users, who are threatened with administrative and criminal liability for posting on the platforms.
According to the Russian human rights information project OVD-Info, this practice is illegal.
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In a post on Telegram today, OVD-Info reminds users that these notifications are neither legally binding nor have a legal basis, so they can be ignored.
As illegal as these notifications are, it doesn't ease the fears of Russian users, as authorities have already targeted notable Instagram in Russia, prosecuting them for posting ads on the platform.
While this was simply a move to comply with sanctions against Russia, Roskomnadzor, the country's internet watchdog, demanded an explanation from the American tech company and accused it of implementing discriminatory restrictions.
Information source: bleepingcomputer.com
