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Why did Russia list Meta as extremist?
Summary
A look back at the decision of 11 October 2022 to place the parent company of Instagram and Facebook on a list of terrorists and extremists.
What did it mean when Russia added Meta Platforms to its list of "terrorists and extremists" on 11 October 2022? The listing targeted the parent company of Instagram and Facebook.
The stated grounds were that the company tolerated Russophobia and allowed calls to violence against Russians on its platforms. The step came as part of the wider fallout of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which had reached a new stage by that autumn.
The battlefield backdrop was shifting. On 5 October 2022, Ukrainian troops had recaptured the strategic village of Dudchany on the west bank of the Dnieper, after Russian forces withdrew. That gain came during the Ukrainian southern counteroffensive.
The two developments sat side by side in the days before and on 11 October 2022: one a regulatory designation of a major technology company, the other a territorial change on the southern front.
