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Russia Finds Meta Guilty of 'Extremist Activity' (reuters.com) 102

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
A Moscow court on Monday found Meta Platforms guilty of "extremist activity", but said its decision would not affect the WhatsApp messenger service, focusing its ire on the company's already banned Facebook and Instagram social networks. From a report: Moscow's Tverskoi District Court upheld a lawsuit filed by Russian state prosecutors on banning the activities of Meta on Russian territory, the court's press service said in a statement. The U.S. company's lawyer, Victoria Shagina, had said in court earlier on Monday that Meta was not carrying out extremist activities and stood against Russophobia, the Interfax news agency reported.
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Russia Finds Meta Guilty of 'Extremist Activity' More

Russia Finds Meta Guilty of 'Extremist Activity'

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  • My feelings on this one. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Z00L00K ( 682162 ) on Monday March 21, 2022 @12:03PM (#62377227) Homepage Journal

    My feelings on this one draws a blank - it's like seeing two bullies fight each other and I don't feel bad about it and just let them have it.

    • Meta is about the algorithm. The thing with the algorithm is doesn't really have a political agenda. However, the algorithm is about maximizing profit, to make profit for Meta, it is show data that will get people to see and respond to it. Extremist views, From the Right, or from the Left or on a particular topic, get people riled up. Thus they respond for or against it, meaning that content is getting advertising impressions. Russia loved this when it worked in their favor, where they could make posts an

      • The thing with the algorithm is doesn't really have a political agenda.

        But the people who write the algorithms DO have political agendas.

        One time, I shared a meme with Valerie Jarrett next to Helena Bonham Carter that was captioned something like "I'm not saying that Roseanne was right but I understand why she said it."

        Within 30 seconds, the post was flagged, removed and my account was restricted. That was obviously 100% political.

        LK

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jbengt ( 874751 )
          Nothing about that was obvious to me. I have no idea what your meme was getting at or what you think it was mistaken for.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by igny ( 716218 )
        It's not about some obscure algorithm, it's about the leaked internal memo to facebook moderators [fortune.com] to allow hate speech against the Russians (allowing calls to kill the Russians). Later they tried to whitewash the statement, saying that they did not mean the Russian civilians [reuters.com], but it was too late.

      • On the other hand, if things are curated without an algorithm, then you get people freaking out that their ideas aren't represented as much as they like (Sara Palin and her lamestream media rants). Even in this case, if you just said, truthfully, that there's a war in Ukraine then Russia would call that an extremist and illegal viewpoint. I prefer a curated news from a relatively widely trusted and centrist source, ie, BBC, Reuters, etc.

    • The next step beyond simply calling something you don't like "fake news".

      • And the next step after an invasion with a 40-mile military vehicle backup, indications of paranoia and purging [politico.com], and doubling down on it ... "Hey, that sounds a little bit like that thing I heard about called 'projection'," and not the military [army.mil] kind.

    • My feelings on this one draws a blank - it's like seeing two bullies fight each other and I don't feel bad about it and just let them have it.

      Well in a battle between creepy somewhat unethical corporation and mini-Hitler I'm throwing in with creepy somewhat unethical corporation.

      I mean FB invades my privacy, but they're not running torture camps [aljazeera.com] and bombing bomb shelters [globalnews.ca].

      • I mean FB invades my privacy, but they're not running torture camps and bombing bomb shelters.

        On the day of Russia's invasion I posted a comment [slashdot.org] about how Russian troops would kill captured Ukrainian soldiers and the mass rapes which would take place. I was assured the Russian army is a professional army and would treat the population honorably.

        Obviously the person who replied to me was as deluded as Putin who thought he could waltz in and take things over in a few days.

        • I mean FB invades my privacy, but they're not running torture camps and bombing bomb shelters.

          On the day of Russia's invasion I posted a comment [slashdot.org] about how Russian troops would kill captured Ukrainian soldiers and the mass rapes which would take place. I was assured the Russian army is a professional army and would treat the population honorably.

          I'll agree about the mass rapes. Though the pattern from Donetsk suggests that captured soldiers will be treated better since they're collateral for prisoner exchange.

          Civilians in captured/occupied territories are likely to bear the brunt of Russian atrocities.

    • When a devil gets caught by a monster, I, as a human being, can only hope that they both die.

    • Thing is, as far as I can see... the algorithm isn't favoring "extremist" views about Russia. There certainly IS some of that going around unfortunately, but mainly there's just alot of talk about the psychopath running their country and perpetrating an unjust war. According to the Russian government, telling the truth about the piece of shit holding Ukraine AND their own country hostage is tantamount to hate speech, which it is not.

  • I Can't Stop Laughing....

  • Please, what is that "Russophobia"? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by franzrogar ( 3986783 ) on Monday March 21, 2022 @12:09PM (#62377249)

    I mean, Russia is a "democratic" country, people voted Putin to be in power, and 71% of its population agree on the massacre and genocide of Ukraine as per official documents.

    What is that "Russophobia"? Pointing murderers for what they are?

    What is that "Russophobia"? A Government that incarcerates the few population that tries to speak about the abominations Russia is doing in Ukraine?

    What is that "Russophobia" if not the scream of Humanity against Death?

    I'm really asking what is that "hate" (phobia) they do talk about. Have they not proved themselves with their own despicable actions or insulting omissions WORTHY of public pointing at them for what they are...

    It is not "hate" speech when you speak loud and clear WHO the murderer, WHO the criminal, WHO the monster is against humanity.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      So you believe Russian elections are free and fair and polls being published are accurate? You are being needless curl to a people who largely have little say in the actions of their government. Many of whom who are actively taking great personal risk to protest that governments actions. Sounds pretty "russophobic" to me. Putin is a murder, Putin is a dictator who holds power thru intimidation and election rigging. I would hazard and I have posted on this before that their is probably a solid 30% of the Ru

      • Many Americans don’t get that in Russia you will be beaten and locked up for just appearing to protest. Become too much of a pain in the ass from the governments perspective and it’s hard labor or attempts at unofficial execution until its successful. Elections are rigged, you can watch the ballot stuffing on camera, say anything about it and see above. Now what do you think happens when someone random walks up to a citizen and asks them if they approve of X that the government does? Exactl

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dargaud ( 518470 )
          This I could understand, but it's not this. First, look at the pics of traffic jams in Russia currently, they almost all have 'Z' on them. Nobody is forcing them. Also I just got off the phone with a russian friend of mine who's lived outside of Russia for the past 20 years and he's talked with his 'friends' there about this, but they all either support Putin or actively chose to ignore what's going on. When talking in private. So no, it's not just fear of authorities.

          • First, look at the pics of traffic jams in Russia currently, they almost all have 'Z' on them. Nobody is forcing them.

            You poor naive child.

          • How often do abused wives casually talk about the abuse, in private? Why would they ever lie about it in private and say everything is ok when it’s not? Now how about in a country where you never know if it’s private, sometimes not even person to person in this electronic era. Yes, some do believe it but it’s not as simple as you are painting it to be. Citizens have almost zero trust in the government due to decades of corruption, anyone will acknowledge this. Many are “support

          • Nobody is forcing them, but they have one and only one viewpoint being told to them. The reason is that people are locked up if they try to share an alternate view. Those people with Z on their cars do think it's just a special military operation against extremist nazis engaged in genocide against anyone who speaks Russian. Meanwhile, the Russian army is recreating an Aleppo/Grozny situation in Ukraine, and the Russian citizens for the most part do not know this.

            How can you have a free election when there

          • I don't think you understand how locked down state control over media is there.

            The entire reason the myth of US government controlled MSM exists is so they can fool you into thinking it's the same everywhere. It's bog standard accusing others of what you do misinformation. Jesus, go read TASS right fucking now. It's not bias, it really is straight up brainwashing. It makes the most biased Fox News or MSNBC narratives look simplistic, and they don't even have competing narratives like my Fox/MSNBC hypoth

    • Lies in whether it is a double standard (have you applied it to ALL countries that have committed attrocities? Even countries you like?) or whether it is a standard that is applied only to Russia.

      If the former, then it is not Russophobia because you apply an equal standard to everyone. The fact that it is being applied to Russians at this time is merely incidental, it is the standard and not the target that matters to you.

      If, however, the standard is selectively applied only to those you see as enemies, the

      • The scale of the atrocities ranks up in the top 5 since WWII. And it's done without a legitimate reason or justification. Sure, Putin thinks it's legitimate and he has good reasons but they're dubious at best. Remember Grozny and Aleppo, this is not Putin's first rodeo in the atrocity department. The tactics of the Russian army since Putin has been in charge has been to force a surrender by any means necesary including the continual bombardment of a town until they surrender or no one is left alive to surr

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jd ( 1658 )

          I agree that Putin has gone way past the line. This is Total War, at least as defined in Wikipedia. (Their definition is that civilians are considered legitimate military targets and/or fundamentally part of the war effort. There's no dispute at all about Putin seeing them as the former. Ukraine arming them is a very understandable response but would mean Ukraine is also waging this as a Total War at this point.)

          I am no fan of Total War, and whilst Ukraine really doesn't have much of a choice in the matter.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hey! ( 33014 )

      I appreciate that you put "democratic" in scare quotes. The fact that they assassinate or imprison people who oppose them and bar the most popular opposition candidates from participating makes Putin's 2018 election victory something of a farce.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sinij ( 911942 )
      The logical continuation of your argument is that Islamophobia isn't real. Do you understand this consequence?

      • Your argument is a fallacy (and a quite insulting one).

        For starters, could you point me in a map where the "Islam" country is located?

        I mean, because in your ignorance you're comparing by yourself a country (Russia) with a religion (Islamic) and, insultingly, trying to point your own false conclusion using wrong arguments as a consequence of my post.

        Do you understand the consequence of your fallacies?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sinij ( 911942 )
          You do understand that Russophobia does not differentiate between Russians from Russia and Russians from other countries, right?

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by DVLNSD ( 9457327 )
            That's one of the reasons - russians everywhere living and acting like they are still in russia.
            I have no problem with people who migrated from russia, received citizenship and now live as part of that country. Nobody is taking away your heritage or nationality, but you cannot haul your whole country with you wherever you go.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by sinij ( 911942 )
              I fully agree with you, but the question here is consistency. If this can be said about Russians, it also should be said about Islam.

              • Re: (Score:1)

                by DVLNSD ( 9457327 )
                Religion != nationality
                Still, some similarities can be drawn. If you move away to a place with different religion, respect their religion and don't force your religion on them. Otherwise stay where you are.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Jeremi ( 14640 )

      It is not "hate" speech when you speak loud and clear WHO the murderer, WHO the criminal, WHO the monster is against humanity.

      Of course you are correct, but "suppressing extremist activity" is obviously not the real motivation here. Russia is shutting down media outlets because they are reporting the truth, and Russia does not want the truth reported. All of Russia's ostensible "reasons" are just fabricated window dressing, because openly stating their actual motivations would make them look bad (er, worse).

    • I mean, Russia is a "democratic" country, people voted Putin to be in power, and 71% of its population agree on the massacre and genocide of Ukraine as per official documents.
      What is that "Russophobia"? Pointing murderers for what they are?

      That's not very fair, the average Trump/Brexit low information voter analog in Russia has no idea what is even happening in Ukraine because they're being constantly lied to while a new iron curtain is being drawn up.

      Not to mention lumping a full third of a country's population in with the rest. Don't be a bigot and blame their whole population for an authoritarian that has been consolidating power and control over all their media.

    • Regardless of the validity of your words, you have clearly lost perspective. Find another subject to think about because you have clearly lost the plot on this one.

      (really odd CAPTCHA for this one. weird)

  • Ofcource (Score:3)

    by bumblebees ( 1262534 ) on Monday March 21, 2022 @12:11PM (#62377253)
    You can wish death to ukrainians on ru gov tv but dare to read not gov approved info on fb makes it a extremist platform. The russian judge deserves a oscar for best actor if he made that statement with a straight face. But on the otherhand trying to not get shot or having some other accident is good motivation to give a good performance.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by SumDog ( 466607 )

      Do you have a clip/link to their "death to ukrainians" videos? I want to see that.

  • So are Russians leaving the platform? No more Russian sources for ads? No more election ads and information? No more global disinformation campaigns?

  • Come-on-now... nobody actually has "Russophobia", guys. What people are afraid of is Putin's war mongering. And rightly so; the man is unhinged.

    • Yeah, that. I don't have Russophobia, I have Putinphobia.

      If anyone should have Russophobia, it's Russians. Their government spends their lives casually.

    • This is a part of some Russian's psyche. They will say that they are the most invaded country, but they forget about Poland probably because they don't want to acknowledge that they were doing half of the invasions there. They will say how everyone hates them. And this is because that story was told over and over again in the Russian media and in the USSR media.

      • This is a part of some Russian's psyche. ....

        That is a truly sad commentary. It's believable, mind you... but that just makes it that much more sad.

  • Imagine being a media company not censored by Russia! Imagine working for a company that Russia finds palatable. I don't mean just any Russia. I mean even the current goonish reincarnation of Russia. Congratulations to Facebook, I guess. Can't think of a clearer indication of being on the right side of history than the worst people on the planet hating you. Imagine being a country that overnight became worse than the worst of human abuses on the planet. Imagine getting there in just a few weeks. And

  • Step 1) Create a law that all data on Russian citizens must be kept in-country.
    Step 2) Declare company keeping data on Russian citizens guilty of "extremist activity".
    Step 3) Seize all servers owned by company, getting both free hardware and extraordinarily detailed files on every single Russian citizen.
    Step 4) Profit!

  • ...Soviet Russia opened in Meta a system of meta-gulag where to jail meta-extremists.

  • Asking for a friend.

  • Quite a few Russians don't like what is going on. It is obviously not doing the citizens of Russia any good to have most of the rest of the world as enemies. The economy was never that good, and is now going down the tubes due to sanctions. Now there are thousands of Russian soldiers sent home in a bag. And what do you get out of this? A country that was once a thriving agricultural and mineral resource is now a pile of rubble, and most of the people have buggered off to Poland. What's wrong with trading wi

  • What if the misinformation and propaganda that the Russians are guilty of come out? Can't have that. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    On the other hand, the Russians know so well how meddling is done, perhaps that's why they need to stop some of the top meddling channels...

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