Moscow Court Declines Meta Request

Moscow, March 21: A Moscow district court has declined the request of Meta to stop the proceedings on the lawsuit filed by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office to ban Facebook and Instagram in Russia, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Monday.

Last week, a Moscow district court told Sputnik that it had received a statement from the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia on the recognition of Meta an extremist organisation in the wake of the company allowing publication of calls for violence against Russian military on its social media platforms amid the military operation in Ukraine.

The hearing on the case started on Monday. A Meta representative told the court that it does not have the authority to consider the claim, as Meta is a foreign company, and the claim must be considered at the place of its registration — which is in the US. The company asked to close the case or at least postpone the lawsuit’s consideration. Both requests were denied.