According to Interfax, being placed on a list of extremist organisations means banks can freeze Meta’s funds in Russia.
The two platforms were banned in Russia in March for “Russophobia”.
This follows Meta’s announcement it would permit posts such as “death to Russian invaders” but not credible threats against civilians.
Meta appealed against the ban but it was upheld by a Moscow court in June.
What does this mean for Meta? Well, according to Russian news outlets, not much good. financially speaking, at least.
The addition to the list of terrorist and extremist organisations means that banks can now freeze any of Meta’s funds that are located within Russia. Ouch.
Meta’s response to this was to permit posts such as “death to Russian invaders” but not credible threats against civilians. Understandably, this didn’t go over well with the Russian authorities.
At this point, it’s unclear what Meta plans to do next. For now, it seems they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Do they continue to allow posts that speak out against the Russian government? Or do they start censoring their users in order to avoid further conflict? Only time will tell.
