The court will begin to consider a lawsuit to recognize Meta as an extremist organization

On March 21, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow will begin considering the application of the Prosecutor General's Office to ban Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Facebook and Instagram, as an extremist organization in Russia.

The Prosecutor General's Office demanded that Meta be recognized as an extremist organization after the statement of its press secretary Andy Stone that the company was lifting restrictions on "calls for violence against Russian military personnel" in some countries. The oversight agency saw this as inciting hatred and enmity towards “the citizens of the Russian Federation”, and also stated that such steps “shape the idea of ​​the permissibility of terrorist activities.”

In addition, the department sent materials to the Investigative Committee, which opened a criminal case in connection with illegal calls for violence by Meta employees. The UK clarified that their actions contain signs of crimes under Articles 280 (public calls to carry out extremist activities, the maximum punishment is up to five years in prison) and 205.1 (assistance to terrorist activities, provides for punishment up to life).

Stone later posted a screenshot of the mailing on Twitter. It says the company has "temporarily allowed forms of political expression that would normally violate our ban on incitement to violence." At the same time, it was noted that such appeals against civilians are unacceptable.