UPDATE 5: Russian court bans Facebook, Instagram, not WhatsApp

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MOSCOW, Mar 21 (PRIME) -- The Tverskoi District Court of Moscow on Monday banned activities of the U.S. company Meta, owner of social networks Facebook and Instagram, in Russia for extremist actions, but not the company’s messenger WhatsApp.

“To forbid the activity of company Meta in the Russian Federation. The decision does not apply to WhatsApp,” Judge Olga Solopova said.

She explained that unlike Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp “does not distribute information publicly.”

The Prosecutor General’s Office explained its lawsuit against Meta Platforms by its willingness to save Russians from further violation of their rights. The company breaks its own rules by allowing calls for assassination of the Russian military, the prosecutors said.

A Meta representative said that the Russian users count on Facebook and Instagram as the platforms for communication. The arguable information accounted for a minor part of the total flow, and the company had already paid fines.

The court earlier rejected a request of Meta Platforms to terminate and delay proceedings. A Meta spokesperson earlier said that only a court having jurisdiction over the plaintiff can consider a lawsuit against Meta Platforms.

“We ask to terminate proceedings on the case: the court is not authorized to hear it, Meta is a foreign company, and the lawsuit is to be considered by court at place of registration,” the lawyer said.

The lawyer also requested the court postpone the hearing since the lawyers had learnt about the 300-page case too late and did not have the time to prepare.

“We should present our position, but such a pace deprives us of fair procedural guarantees,” the lawyer said.

Meta Platforms earlier lifted a ban on calls to violence against the Russian military in Ukraine, but not against the civilians temporarily in its networks Facebook and Instagram. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office then raised the issue of recognition Meta as an extremist institution.

The Prosecutor General’s Office asked the court “to ban Meta’s offers of products Facebook and Instagram due to the execution of extremist actions, but not to WhatsApp because of the absence of a function of public distribution of information.”

The prosecutors also said in the lawsuit that extremism has been earlier present on Facebook and Instagram and “photos of Adolf Hitler, Nazi emblems, religious extremism, calls to unapproved rallies were in public access.”

With the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine in late February, the social networks have contained multiple propaganda materials with calls to kill Russians, including the military, the prosecutors said.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said that in case of Meta’s ban, the users of Facebook and Instagram will not be punished for skirting it.

“The people will not be brought to justice only for their use of Meta’s products,” the office said.

The Federal Security Service and the communications service supported the prosecutors’ lawsuit seeking to forbid Meta’s activities in the country.

“Meta’s policy is aimed against the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, including the military,” a Federal Security Service representative said.

A representative of the communications watchdog also pointed to “multiple violations” and a refusal to delete the content banned in Russia.

The Meta lawyer said that the company changed its policy not to tolerate Russophobia and calls to violence against the citizens of Russia after public discussion.

The lawyer asked to reject the lawsuit banning Facebook and Instagram. “Incitement of hatred against Russian civilians, Russophobia, and calls for harassment are unacceptable on the platform. We also do not allow calls for the assassination of heads of state,” the lawyer said.

The court also refused to hold linguistic expertise and check all arguable posts on Facebook and Instagram for extremism under the lawsuit against Meta Platforms.

Meta insisted on the expertise, while the prosecutors and the Federal Security Service were against it since the emblems of the Right Sector, the organization that is banned in the country, and the Nazi Germany are forbidden and need no further scrutiny.

According to the court’s materials, Instagram has ignored 4,600 requests of the communications service to delete fake materials about Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and 1,800 requests to delete calls for participation in unsanctioned rallies.

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