Russia has added Facebook owner Meta to its list of extremist and terrorist organisations, Interfax reported on Tuesday.

The decision means that all services provided by Meta, including WhatsApp and Instagram, will be shut down in the country, and Russians would lose access to these platforms, Insider reported earlier. According to the report, Rosfinmonitoring, Russia’s federal financial control service, was behind the move.

According to Interfax, Vesna, the Russian anti-war movement, was also added to the list of organisations involved in terrorism and extremism on Tuesday.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

In March, Russia’s technology regulator blocked access to Facebook, accusing it of “discrimination” and alleging that the social media platform restricted users’ access to government-backed news outlets such as Sputnik and Russia Today.

Later in the month, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office requested that the company be classified as an “extremist organisation” under the law, Russian state media Tass reported.

Reuters reported, citing several internal emails, that Meta has temporarily allowed posts calling for violence against Russian invaders from users in certain countries, including Ukraine and Poland.

A Moscow court then rejected Meta’s appeal after it was found guilty of “extremist activity” in Russia, Reuters reported, citing Tass.

Source: BBC