Facebook's parent company Meta could be banned in Russia
Access to Facebook and Twitter has been restricted or blocked in Russia since last week
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has applied to designate Meta - the parent company of Facebook and Instagram - as an "extremist organisation" and ban its activities in Russia, according to Russian media.
It also said that access to Instagram should be restricted, report BBC.
It comes after Meta said it was making changes to its policy on violent speech, to allow people in certain countries to express violent sentiments towards Russian forces, but not towards Russian civilians.
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The Prosecutor General's Office says Meta is suspected of "inciting hatred and animosity involving threats of violence".
Access to Facebook and Twitter has been restricted or blocked in Russia since last week.
The company's policy exemptions are in force on the territories of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine and Estonia. According to Reuters, Meta will not be temporarily deleting posts, sent from the territories of Poland, Russia and Ukraine, urging the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Meta acknowledged later that it allowed calls for the violence against Russian troops in view of the special military operation in Ukraine. Meta Spokesman Andy Stone wrote on Twitter that the company had "temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as 'death to the Russian invaders'."
"We still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians," Meta spokesperson added.
