, March 11, (dpa/GNA) – Meta, the parent company of Facebook, could be banned in Russia as an “extremist organization,” if a motion is filed by the state prosecutor before a court is approved.

Facebook has already been offline in Russia after it was shut down because it had blocked posts by several state-owned media outlets. The new legal motion would also shut down Meta subsidiaries like Instagram and Whatsapp. Instagram was already blocked in Russia on Friday.

The prosecutor’s office made a point of shutting down its Instagram account as it made the request, part of a renewed protest now that Facebook is allowing users in many Eastern European nations to issue calls for violence against Russian troops involved in that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Users have begun transferring their Whatsapp contacts and communications to other services, like Telegram. “Something tells me that in the near future all Meta services on Russian Federation territory will be blocked soon,” said the deputy chairperson of the Duma committee responsible for information policy.

Twitter has also been banned in Russia, which has launched a severe media crackdown in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

Facebook announced late Thursday that it was relaxing its rules on calls for violence, creating a partial exception when the proposed target is Russian troops in Ukraine.

As an example of an exception for statements that would normally have violated guidelines, a Meta spokesperson cited the phrase “Death to the Russian invaders.”

“We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” the spokesperson wrote on Twitter.

The relaxation only applies to users in some countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary, The New York Times wrote.

Many Ukrainians have been venting their anger on Facebook in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started over two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Google’s video platform YouTube said on Friday that it would block channels found to be denying the invasion of Ukraine.

“Our community guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events, and we remove content about Russia’s invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy,” a spokesperson told dpa.

“In line with that, effective immediately, we are also blocking YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media, globally,” the representative added.

In Russian state media, the invasion of Ukraine is usually described as a peacekeeping operation or a liberation. Moreover, state media repeatedly claim that war victims are crisis actors.

GNA

, March 11, (dpa/GNA) – Meta, the parent company of Facebook, could be banned in Russia as an “extremist organization,” if a motion is filed by the state prosecutor before a court is approved.

Facebook has already been offline in Russia after it was shut down because it had blocked posts by several state-owned media outlets. The new legal motion would also shut down Meta subsidiaries like Instagram and Whatsapp. Instagram was already blocked in Russia on Friday.

The prosecutor’s office made a point of shutting down its Instagram account as it made the request, part of a renewed protest now that Facebook is allowing users in many Eastern European nations to issue calls for violence against Russian troops involved in that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Users have begun transferring their Whatsapp contacts and communications to other services, like Telegram. “Something tells me that in the near future all Meta services on Russian Federation territory will be blocked soon,” said the deputy chairperson of the Duma committee responsible for information policy.

Twitter has also been banned in Russia, which has launched a severe media crackdown in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

Facebook announced late Thursday that it was relaxing its rules on calls for violence, creating a partial exception when the proposed target is Russian troops in Ukraine.

As an example of an exception for statements that would normally have violated guidelines, a Meta spokesperson cited the phrase “Death to the Russian invaders.”

“We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” the spokesperson wrote on Twitter.

The relaxation only applies to users in some countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary, The New York Times wrote.

Many Ukrainians have been venting their anger on Facebook in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started over two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Google’s video platform YouTube said on Friday that it would block channels found to be denying the invasion of Ukraine.

“Our community guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events, and we remove content about Russia’s invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy,” a spokesperson told dpa.

“In line with that, effective immediately, we are also blocking YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media, globally,” the representative added.

In Russian state media, the invasion of Ukraine is usually described as a peacekeeping operation or a liberation. Moreover, state media repeatedly claim that war victims are crisis actors.

GNA