Meta unsuccessfully asks that Russia dismiss the case to ban its activities

Moscow, 21 Mar The technology giant Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, today unsuccessfully called for the Russian Justice to reject the prosecution's demand that seeks to label the company as an “extremist organization” and therefore ban its activities in Russia for allowing calls for violence against Russians. “We registered a motion to end the proceedings. We consider that the court does not have the jurisdiction to consider this case, given that Meta is a foreign company,” said the company's lawyer at the Tverskoi court in Moscow. Counsel noted that the courts of the Russian Federation can consider cases against foreign companies only if the defendant organization is located on the territory of the Russian Federation. He also argued that, should his motion be rejected, the trial should at least be postponed to allow time for the legal team to familiarize themselves with the material of the proceedings against Meta, which totals more than 500 pages. He indicated that the law firm should have had at least 15 days to study the case, something that the prosecution rejected by claiming that Meta had enough time to prepare. Judge Olga Solopova then rejected Meta's motion, both to dismiss the case and to postpone its consideration, according to the official TASS agency. The Attorney General's Office demands to ban the activities of the company that manages social networks Instagram, Facebook and the messaging application WhatsApp in Russia. The reason was the temporary lifting of the ban on residents of several countries to publish information with calls for violence against Russian citizens following the “special military operation” launched by the Kremlin in Ukraine. The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case because of Meta's refusal to eliminate calls for violence against the Russians, including the military. Russia has already blocked Instagram and restricted access to Facebook. Meta announced just over a week ago that, temporarily due to the military offensive in Ukraine, it allows users to bypass its rules of use and send messages that would normally be banned as “death to the Russian invader”. In a statement, company spokesman Andy Stone explained that exceptions are allowed on a temporary basis for the Russian invasion of Ukraine if they do not include “credible” death threats against Russian civilians. However, Meta does allow calls for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, issued from Ukraine, Poland and Russia itself.