No prerequisites for unblocking Instagram, Facebook banned in Russia - Roskomnadzor head

SOCHI. Oct 24 (Interfax) - There are no prerequisites for unblocking access to the Facebook and Instagram social networks (that are banned in Russia and owned by the Meta corporation branded extremist and outlawed by a Russian court), head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) Andrei Lipov said.

"There are no prerequisites for this today," Lipov said at the Spektr specialized forum.

The Tverskoi District Court in Moscow designated the U.S. company Meta Platforms Inc. as an extremist organization and banned its operations in Russia on March 21, 2022, at the motion from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office. Meta's Facebook and Instagram social networks were also banned in Russia. Access to the social networks was blocked earlier: Facebook was blocked on March 4 at the demand of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office for censorship of Russian media outlets, and the blocking of Instagram followed on March 14.