A court in Moscow has ruled to label Meta Platforms an “extremist organization," a move that effectively outlaws its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms.
The Tver district court, ignoring a plea by Meta's lawyers to postpone the hearing to give them time to respond in the case, said on March 21 that its ruling takes effect “immediately.”
SEE ALSO: 'Spit Them Out': Across Russia, Security Forces Act On Putin's Condemnation Of 'Scum And Traitors'The designation, according to prosecutors, will only outlaw Facebook and Instagram and not Meta's WhatsApp messaging platform, since it is not a public platform.
State prosecutors filed the request after news surfaced that Meta Platforms was permitting Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers after Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
In court, they said Meta "deliberately allowed hate speech against Russians, which created an alternative reality in which any pro-Russian position was suppressed and hatred was incited.”
There was no immediate reaction to the ruling on Meta's corporate media page or on any of its social media sites.
According to Reuters, Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On March 10, Meta said that as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as, 'Death to the Russian invaders.'"
It added that the company "still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians."
Russian authorities had already blocked access to Facebook after it blocked some posts by state-owned media outlets.
Prosecutors said at the trial that Russians who still have accounts with the services will not face legal liability. But some human rights lawyers have warned that such promises may not be honored.
Moscow has been taking moves to limit access to independent media, including social media, over the past year.