Despite the blocking of Facebook and Instagram in Russia, the country's citizens should continue to be able to use social networks legally.

That was decided by a Russian court, reported the Russian state news agency Tass.

The meta group behind the two platforms has been classified as an "extremist organization", but Russian citizens are allowed to continue using it, it said.

Bastian Benrath

Editor in Business.

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However, Facebook and Instagram remain blocked in Russia.

Therefore, users need some technical expertise to be able to reach them: A VPN connection is necessary.

This is a specially protected Internet connection that fools the Internet into believing that the user is in a different location than he actually is.

The use of VPN connections, with which network blocks can be circumvented, is usually forbidden in many authoritarian countries, but is still widespread, for example in China.

The Kremlin failed to enforce a hard lockdown

VPN use is now apparently to be tolerated in Russia.

Recently, Russian MPs said they had no plans to ban them across the board.

Previously, there had been various reports that the Russian government was de facto unable to enforce a hard ban on Instagram and Facebook.

Many people in Russia use social networks to earn money, for example to sell goods.

They had feared for their livelihood.

According to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, around a week ago the court classified Instagram and Facebook as extremist, around 80 million users were cut off from the platform, including influencers who use Instagram professionally.

However, the use of the Whatsapp messenger, which also belongs to the Meta group, was never restricted.

However, the public prosecutor's office had already declared during this decision by a Moscow court that the use of meta products by natural and legal persons should not be counted as participation in extremist activities.

"People who merely use Meta's services will not be held responsible," it said.

The background to the actions of the Russian judiciary was Meta's decision to allow calls for violence against Russian troops in Ukraine.

The American group had announced loosening of the rules in Russia's war against Ukraine.

A Facebook spokesperson cited the phrase "death to Russian invaders" as an example of an exception to utterances that would normally have violated policies.

This caused great outrage in Moscow.

Meta later clarified the rules for content inspectors: They only apply in Ukraine, and calls for violence may not be directed against Russians in general or against heads of state like Vladimir Putin.