MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. Russian entrepreneurs will leave Instagram and Facebook, the activities of which have been banned in Russia, and redirect advertising to other platforms, Ivan Samoylenko, managing partner of the communications agency B&C Agency, told TASS.
On March 21, Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court ruled in favor of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and recognized the activities of the Instagram and Facebook social networks, owned by US-based Meta, as extremist, banning their work in Russia.
"The ban on the operation of Facebook and Instagram social networks is a predictable court decision in the context of the policy the company has been pursuing towards Russians in recent weeks. It is likely that ordinary users who communicate with friends on banned social networks using a VPN will not face liability as long as they do not post any extremist content there. As for business, the situation is more serious. <...> In general, businesses should look for alternative sources of advertising for their goods and services. These can be Russian social networks and news portals, newspapers, radio and television," Samoylenko said. He stressed that entrepreneurs need to have clear understanding of what their potential audience is and what social networks or instant messengers they tend to move to.
The expert noted that there is still no exact data on what liability threatens companies that place ads on banned social networks, but one can rely on existing provisions in Russian laws. Under the law, buying advertising from an extremist organization is prohibited, as it can be equated with financing extremism. Also, a ban of placement of the Meta logo is possible as it can be interpreted as promotion of the banned organization, he said.
"Russian advertisers will bear responsibility after the court decision comes into force, this can be checked on the website of the Justice Ministry, where a list of extremist organizations is published. In addition, Meta Platforms can file an appeal," he said.