Instagram logoMOSCOW, Mar 11 The Prosecutor General's Office sent a request to Roskomnadzor to restrict access to Instagram, after Meta, which owns the social network, allowed users to call for violence against the Russian military. This was reported by the press service of the department. «In accordance with the federal law «On Counteracting Extremist Activities», the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation sent a statement to the court recognizing Meta Platforms Inc. as an extremist organization and banning its activities on the territory of Russia,» the message says. The Prosecutor General's Office also noted that on Instagram calls for the participation of Russians «in riots accompanied by violence» regularly appear. In turn, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under two articles because of the company's policy, which allowed calls for violence against the Russian Armed Forces. The UK qualified Meta's actions as public calls for extremism and the promotion of terrorism.The Kremlin commented on the possibility of banning Facebook in Russia. Earlier, Reuters, citing internal Meta documents, reported that the corporation would allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and the Russian military in the context of the situation in Ukraine, as well as for the death of Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko . It was about changing the policy of banning hate speech in social networks. According to media reports, temporary permission for incitement to violence applies to countries such as Russia, Ukraine and Poland, as well as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. The relevant emails were sent to content moderators. Later, company spokesman Andy Stone admitted that Meta had lifted the ban on incitement to violence against the Russian military, but not civilians. The Prosecutor General's Office had previously recognized Facebook as complicit in violations of fundamental human rights and and freedoms of Russians, guaranteeing, among other things, the freedom of the mass media. Based on this, Roskomnadzor restricted access to Instagram and Facebook. and denazification of Ukraine. The armed forces say they are only targeting military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. There are casualties on both sides. After that, many Western countries imposed large-scale sanctions against Moscow, primarily against the banking sector and the supply of high-tech products. In addition, many brands and services have announced the termination of work in the country.
