Russia’s financial monitoring agency, Rosfinmonitoring has added Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to its list of “terrorists and extremists,” the Interfax news agency has reported.
According to Interfax, being placed on a list of extremist organisations means banks can freeze Meta’s funds in Russia.
All services provided by Meta, including WhatsApp and Instagram, could also be cut off in the country
Vesna, the Russian anti-war movement, was also put on the list of organizations involved in terrorism and extremism on Tuesday, per Interfax.
In late March Russia blocked access to Facebook for “carrying out extremist activities” after authorities accused Meta of tolerating “Russophobia” during Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
At the time Meta official told BBC News it was making a temporary exception to its normal policies, “in light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine”, to allow those affected to “express violent sentiments towards invading armed forces.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
