Facebook and Instagram banned in Russia by Tverskoi district court  in Moscow

Tverskoi district court  in Moscow has banned both Facebook and Instagram from their country. The Court ruling designated their parent company, Meta as an EXTREMIST organization. Experts expect the ban to come into force immediately. 

FSB which is Russia's security service had accused both the sites of undertaking activities which were directed against Russia, especially its armed forces.  Hence FSB requested the court to ban the two platforms for carrying out "extremist activities.”

There is already restriction on facebook and instagram by Russia's media regulator after Meta announced that it would allow its users in Ukraine to post messages against Russia's invasion and Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Meta has been allowing postings on its platforms against Russia. 

The current Ban excludes Whatsapp which is also owned by META. This is because the Court believes that Whatsapp lacks the functionality for "public dissemination of information". 

Telegram App is the most popular app in the country currently. There are likely more restrictions on other social media platforms like Twitter, Google and Youtube.