Russia bans Instagram, Facebook under 'extremism' law
Mar 21, 2022
Moscow [Russia], March 22 : A Russian court on Monday ruled to ban Instagram and Facebook in the country, labelling its parent company Meta as extremist, according to a media report.
Specifying that the ban on Meta's activities will not apply to the WhatsApp messenger, the Tverskoy district court of Moscow said that the decision will be enforced immediately, Sputnik reported.
Earlier, the Kremlin had threatened to ban Facebook and Instagram after its posts called for violence against Russia.
The Kremlin said that it's "necessary" to ban Facebook and Instagram if they allowed calls for violence against Russia, reported Sputnik.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, which it claimed was a response to calls from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk for protection against attacks by Ukrainian troops.
Condemning the Russian military operation, the Western countries have boosted the sanctions pressure on Moscow.
