Rosfinmonitoring added the Vesna movement and Meta (Facebook, Instagram) to the list of terrorists and extremists. The company has been recognized in Russia as an “extremist organization” since March 21, and its activities are banned in Russia. However, Russians continued to use social networks using VPN services.
The prosecutor's office of St. Petersburg demanded to recognize Vesna as "extremist" at the end of September, but the decision has not yet been made.
The head of the Agora human rights organization, Pavel Chikov , said on Telegram that the prosecutor's office had begun giving Facebook and Instagram users "warnings about the inadmissibility of extremist activity." On the published document, the prosecutor threatens with administrative and criminal liability for posting posts.
According to the Network Freedoms project, the designation of Meta as a terrorist one does not change anything, but the mention of Meta Inc. without indicating a ban on its activities by any user, threatens with liability under Part 2 of Art. 13.15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses to both the media and citizens. In addition, a public demonstration of the symbols of the company, as well as social networks belonging to it, can be qualified under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, and the application of logos on goods – under Part 2 of Art. 20.3 Administrative Code
Advertising promotion on Facebook and Instagram can also be recognized as financing extremist activities (Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and work in owned companies (including abroad) can be punished under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Currently, Facebook is also blocked in China and Iran, problems with access to the social network are observed in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Vietnam, where it is partially banned. Periodically, the social network is blocked in Turkey.
In March, it was reported that 2,000 employees of Meta, who are Russian citizens, are afraid to return to their homeland after the organization is recognized as extremist. In Russia, they may face criminal liability; about a dozen employees have already decided to leave the company in order to avoid problems for themselves and their families. Lawyer Victoria Shakina, who represented Meta in court, stated that "there was no direct recognition of the company as extremist."
After the Russian authorities imposed penalties for "discrediting" the Russian army, the blocking of social networking sites and independent media increased significantly. This has led to the rise in popularity of VPN services. However, in early June, Roskomnadzor got to them. The agency began to restrict the operation of services, as the means of bypassing blocking were recognized as a threat.