Incriminating Instagram: The Russian authorities want to outlaw Meta as ‘extremist’. What does this mean for social media users in Russia?

On March 11, a spokesperson for Meta -- the parent company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp -- confirmed that the social media giant had temporarily altered its content moderation to allow some posts calling for violence against "Russian invaders." The response from the Russian authorities was harsh. Federal investigators launched a criminal case against Meta's staff and the Russian Attorney General's Office called for designating the company as an illegal "extremist organization." If the authorities go through with outlawing Meta, millions of Russians could be incriminated in "extremist activity" just for having profiles on Instagram and Facebook. What's more, the social networks' logos would be banned in Russia as "extremist symbols" (just like the swastika, for example). For answers to our questions about what this means for Meta -- and for Russia's Facebook and Instagram users -- Meduza turned to Pavel Chikov, the founder of the human rights group Agora. Original Article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/03/12/incriminating-instagram