Moscow: Russia added Meta, the company which owns Facebook and Instagram, to a list of "terrorist and extremist" organisations as compiled in the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring) database. Earlier in March, Russia had banned Facebook and Instagram for "carrying out extremist activities" after accusing Meta of tolerating "Russophobia" during Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.
It is pertinent to note that Meta had announced that it would allow statements like "death to Russian invaders" which was only applicable to users posting from inside Ukraine and not any credible threats to civilians. Facebook and Instagram is already banned in Russia which however is accessible through VPN services.
Two weeks ago, Meta announced the discovery of a sprawling Russian disinformation network that created websites designed to look like major European news outlets. Instead of news, the websites carried propaganda intended to drive a wedge between Ukraine and its western allies. That operation was the largest of its kind to originate in Russia since the war began, researchers concluded.
“The network exhibited an overarching pattern of targeting Europe with anti-Ukraine narratives and expressions of support for Russian interests,” according to a report from the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, which helped identify the network disabled by Meta.
The sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine. Meta said it identified and disabled the operation before it was able to gain a large audience. Nonetheless, Facebook said it was the largest and most complex Russian propaganda effort that it has found since the invasion began.
The operation involved more than 60 websites created to mimic legitimate news sites including The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom and Germany's Der Spiegel. Instead of the actual news reported by those outlets, however, the fake sites contained links to Russian propaganda and disinformation about Ukraine. More than 1,600 fake Facebook accounts were used to spread the propaganda to audiences in Germany, Italy, France, the U.K. and Ukraine. (with Agency inputs)
