Russia puts Facebook’s parent company Meta in its list of ‘terrorist and extremist’ organisations

US tech giant Meta Platforms Inc is now on Russia’s list of “terrorists and extremists” curated by the country’s financial monitoring agency, state-run news agencies said on Tuesday.

This list by Rosfinmonitoring — a federal body overseen by Vladimir Putin — includes “organisations and individuals with regard to which there is information about their involvement in extremist activities or terrorism".

The latest move could land Russian citizens and companies in jail for up to 10 years on charges of “sponsoring extremism” if they purchase ads on Facebook or Instagram, reported Russian daily The Moscow Times.

There is no immediate comment from Meta on the latest move from authorities in Moscow.

Users of Meta products, however, do not violate the law, according to Russian senator Andrei Klishas.

“Rosfinmonitoring’s decision to put Meta on the list of extremist organisations in no way changes the situation for users of Meta’s social networks, users of Meta products are not breaking the law,” he wrote on Telegram on Tuesday.

“The legal situation has not changed in any way since the court banned Meta products,” the Russian lawmaker added.

He also pointed out that Meta’s “extremist” tag does not extend to its WhatsApp messenger service.

This comes a few months after a court in Moscow dismissed an appeal by Meta after the parent company of social media giants Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp was found guilty of alleged “extremist activity” in Russia in March.

Meta’s lawyer told the court in June that the tech giant was not carrying out extremist activity and was against Russophobia, but their plea was rejected.

Prosecutors in Russia have already started issuing notices to citizens warning of administrative or criminal liability for using Facebook and Instagram, human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov said.

Simply displaying the Instagram and Facebook logos, or advertising on those networks, could be deemed illegal under Russia’s criminal code, he said.

Russian citizens cannot access Meta’s widely popular social media platforms Facebook and Instagram due to restrictions. But some users in Moscow still penetrate through tight guidelines using virtual private networks (VPNs).

The demand for these networks shot up in March when western internet services were blocked after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

Russian state communications regulator Roskomnadzor has also updated its list of banned VPNs, according to a news agency report.

Lawyers and digital rights groups are reporting that Facebook and Instagram users are being warned over some posts.