Facebook and Instagram under accusation in Russia. The Prosecutor: “They instigate hatred”
The request to the communications authority to recognize Meta as an “extremist organization” has been initiated. In response to the two platforms’ decision not to censor content critical against Moscow
11 Mar 2022
A. S.
Recognize Meta, the holding company to which Facebook and Instagram belong, as an “extremist organization”. The Moscow Attorney General’s Office asks for this, in response to the decision of the two social platforms to allow users to post content against Russia.
The news was released by the Russian news agency Tass, which reported the contents of a press release from the judicial offices in Moscow. “What Meta is doing can be defined as ‘incitement to racial hatred’, which in Russian legislation qualifies as extremism”, comments the deputy head of the Russian committee on technologies and communications, Anton Gorelkin.
This was the starting point for the request to Roskomnadzor, the authority that supervises communications in Russia, in protest against the temporary derogation from hate messages decided by Meta on its subsidiaries Facebook and Instagram, which actually allows the publication of targeted content. towards the Russian armed forces deployed on the ground in Ukraine.
According to the press office of the president of the Russian federation, Dmitry Peskov, Moscow would be determined to block – after Facebook – also Instagram, if Meta does not pending the decision to block the appeals for violence against Russians, including military personnel.
Also confirming Moscow’s intentions is the president of the Duma’s Information Policy Commission, Alexander Khinshtein, who asks Meta to provide clarifications on his attitude. “We must hear the confirmation that Meta refuses the dialogue with Roskomnadzor – he underlines – If this is the case, I believe that it will be necessary to use the intervention and response mechanisms available, the hardest possible, namely the blocking of the Internet on Russian territory”.
under accusation