Extremists were added to the list of terrorists

Rosfinmonitoring has included Meta, which is already recognized in the Russian Federation as an extremist organization (it owns Facebook and Instagram blocked in Russia), to the list of extremists and terrorists. This means a ban on any financial transfers to blocked platforms. The new status does not impose additional obligations on ordinary users of Instagram or Facebook, they can continue to use the platforms for personal purposes, lawyers say. But, experts say, even more risks arise for bloggers, especially on Instagram, the interest of advertisers in which revived in the summer.

Rosfinmonitoring has included the American Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Instagram, Facebook and the WhatsApp messenger, into the list of organizations involved in terrorism and extremism. The inclusion of Meta in the list is based on the spring court decision, by which the company was recognized as extremist, said Mergen Doraev, partner at the EMPP Law Office.

The suit of the Prosecutor General’s Office was satisfied by the Tverskoy Court of Moscow on March 21. He instructed to immediately stop the work in the Russian Federation of Facebook and Instagram already blocked by Roskomnadzor, but not WhatsApp. An exception is spelled out in the lawsuit: according to the prosecutor’s office, the service does not have the possibility of “public dissemination of information.” The reason for the lawsuit was a change in the policy of Facebook and Instagram, which became known on March 10. Meta itself acknowledged that it allowed users on the territory of Ukraine to leave statements about violence against Russians, but only in the context of a military operation.

After Meta is included in the list of structures involved in terrorism and extremism, financial organizations in the Russian Federation are obliged to freeze its funds and other property, informing Rosfinmonitoring, says Mergen Doraev. In addition, there is a right to refuse such a person to conclude a bank account agreement. “If a bank conducts an operation without freezing, this threatens with administrative responsibility, and in the future, with the revocation of the license,” the lawyer clarifies.

The six-month delay may be due to the appeal of the original lawsuit and bureaucratic delays, notes Aleksey Dobrynin, managing partner at Pen & Paper.

Irina Ostapchuk, head of the practice for supporting IP and IT transactions at Semenov & Pevzner, said that on September 1, the ruling of the cassation instance in the Meta case appeared on the court’s website, but the text of the document itself was not available: “Perhaps Rosfinmonitoring was waiting for the case to go through all the company to the list.

The inclusion of Meta in the list does not impose any new obligations on ordinary users of Instagram or Facebook, Aleksey Dobrynin emphasizes: “The use of these products is possible for personal purposes not related to extremist or terrorist activities.”

For ordinary users of social networks, the inclusion of Meta in this list of extremists does not change anything yet, confirms Irina Ostapchuk. Representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office also said that the use of Facebook and Instagram “not for the purposes of extremism” should not be considered an illegal act.

The Meta, Instagram and Facebook logos are still not allowed to be used, Alexey Dobrynin adds: “If the site owner has links to Facebook or Instagram with the logos of these social networks or the Meta logo in his contacts, he can be prosecuted for demonstrating extremist symbols (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation fine or arrest up to 15 days). Irina Ostapchuk adds that payments to Meta and its subsidiaries named in the court decision, for example, the purchase of advertising, are also at risk: “Such actions can be recognized as financing extremist activities.”

Meanwhile, the use of social media for promotion, which fell sharply in the spring, began to recover in the summer. In mid-June, marketing agencies reported to Kommersant that the number of applications for advertising from bloggers through Instagram is growing. Then the lawyers said that, in fact, the agencies do not violate the law, since they order advertising directly from bloggers, and not through the office of a social network banned in the Russian Federation (see. “Kommersant” dated June 14).

In September, Roskomnadzor prohibited operators from transferring personal data of citizens to foreign organizations whose activities are prohibited in Russia (see. “Kommersant” dated September 15). At that time, the Ministry of Digital Development said that the ban does not threaten private users in any way, but lawyers are sure that bloggers, advertising agencies and other organizations using Meta sites may have risks.

Some major brands have returned to Instagram — they have stopped hiding their activities and are doing native advertising, says Mark Khludnev, founder of the Digital Church agency: “Accounts are maintained as before. Perhaps, after additional restrictions, they will again go into a lull. Although, obviously, the new status does not frighten them, because there is no talk of sponsoring an extremist organization.”

For advertising on a platform such as, for example, Instagram, companies pay money directly to a blogger, he uses his account, but does not share money with the corporation, Mr. Khludnev explains. Kommersant’s interlocutor in the advertising market at the same time believes that companies can completely refuse placements if there are real cases of prosecution for working with opinion leaders.

Timofei Kornev, Valeria Lebedeva