Prosecutors haven’t requested to ban the Meta-
owned messaging service WhatsApp, which
is widely popular in Russia. The authorities
also emphasized that they do not intend
to punish individual Russians who use
Facebook or Instagram.
Instagram and Facebook were already
blocked in Russia after the country’s
communications and media regulator
Roskomnadzor said they were being used
to call for violence against Russian soldiers.
In addition to blocking Facebook and
Instagram, Russian authorities also have shut
access to foreign media websites, including
BBC, the U.S. government-funded Voice
of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle
and Latvia-based website Meduza.
Continuing the effort, Roskomnadzor
blocked the website of Euronews, a
European news network. The regulator has
also cut Euronews broadcasts.
The court’s verdict comes amid multipronged
efforts by Russian authorities to control the
message about Russia’s military action in
Ukraine, which the Kremlin describes as a
“special military operation” intended to uproot
alleged “neo-Nazi nationalists.”
A new law fast-tracked on March 4 by the
Kremlin-controlled parliament, a week after
Russia launched the attack on Ukraine,
envisions prison terms of up to 15 years for
posting “fake” information about the military
that differs from the official narrative.