World Economic Forum-partnered Meta is making “illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation,” said Russia’s Investigative Committee.
QUICK FACTS:
- Russian authorities opened a criminal investigation into Facebook parent company Meta and moved to label the company an “extremist organization” and ban its operations in Russia in response to Meta temporarily allowing users on Facebook to express hate speech against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Forbes reports.
- The policy changes on calls for violence to Russian soldiers apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, according to an email cited by Reuters.
- Russia’s Investigative Committee, a federal agency that investigates major crimes and reports to President Vladimir Putin, said Friday that a criminal case has opened “in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation” by Meta, Reuters reported.
- Russian prosecutors asked a court Friday to designate Meta as an “extremist organization” and ban its operations in Russia, Russian news agency RIA reported.
- A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “Most decisive actions to block the activities of” Meta would be needed if the company’s decision to ease hate speech rules against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is confirmed, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- The Belfast Telegraph reported that Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Communications has already restricted access to the platforms.
META IS AN OFFICIAL PARTNER OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM:
- Facebook’s parent company Meta is an official partner of the World Economic Forum (WEF), according to the WEF’s website.
- The WEF is advancing its “Great Reset” agenda, after which the organization predicts that you will “own nothing. And you’ll be happy” and that the U.S. will not be a “leading superpower” by 2030 (here).
BACKGROUND:
- Russia suggested that WhatsApp, the most popular mobile messaging app in the country, would not be affected by the criminal case against Meta, RIA reported citing a source, Forbes notes.
- Russian prosecutors are also taking steps to restrict access to Instagram, the most popular social network there, saying the platform is being used to incite Russians to participate “in riots accompanied by violence” after the country banned access to Facebook and Twitter last week.
