Russia bans Mark Zuckerberg, Kamala Harris, and others from entering country

Russia has indefinitely banned some of the big names in the world from entering its country, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, USA vice president Kamala Harris, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, and some high-profile journalists, among others. The Russian foreign ministry has imposed a ban on them for promoting the “Russiaphobic” agenda. The travel restrictions have been imposed on 29 Americans and 61 Canadians, including defence officials, business leaders, and journalists from the two countries.

However, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has not been banned by the Russian foreign ministry. Interestingly, another Meta entity, WhatsApp, has also not been barred, despite banning Facebook and Instagram earlier. Russia says WhatsApp is used for communication, and it is not a source of miscommunication.

“The activities of the Meta organization are directed against Russia and its armed forces. The use of Meta’s products by individuals and legal entities should not be considered as participation in extremist activities. Individuals will not be held liable for using Meta’s services,” FSB representative Igor Kovalevsky has told the court.

Russia had imposed bans on Facebook and Instagram last month accusing Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg of briefly allowing posts that called for the death of President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February. The head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, had said 80 million users would lose access to Instagram in Russia in the wake of the ban.

“Meta stands against Russophobia. We have no tolerance for calls for genocide, ethnic cleansing, or any discrimination, harassment, or violence towards Russians on our platform,” Meta global affairs President Nick Clegg said after the March ban.

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