To be fair, Facebook and Instagram social networks have already been banned for not supporting Tsar Putin’s glorious oligarchic-based monarchy.

Moscow's Tverskoi District Court said in a press statement that it had upheld a lawsuit filed by state prosecutors on banning the company's activities on Russian territory.

Meta's lawyer Victoria Shakina had earlier told the court that the company was not carrying out extremist activities and was against Russophobia, the Interfax news agency reported.

But it does not appear to be losing much sleep over being kicked out of Russia. Indeed, staying would be a rather bad thing, given the world’s mood against the nuclear-equipped pariah state.

It is rather difficult to justify staying in a country which is currently bombing shopping centres, schools, killing Jewish holocaust survivors and then blaming the victims. Companies which have been slow to pull out, such as the appropriately titled Koch Industries, have found themselves on the receiving end of some rather bad publicity and snarky comments.

Late on Monday, communications regulator Roskomnadzor said it will exclude Meta from the list of foreign entities operating on the Internet in Russia, and Instagram and Facebook from the register of social networks, according to news agencies.

Roskomnadzor also said that Russian media must label Meta and its social networks as prohibited when distributing information and are forbidden to display their logos.

This puts Facebook right up there with the Taliban and Islamic State who have also been labelled as "extremist." Jehovah's Witnesses are also apparently extremists, presumably because they are annoying, but not the actor Ivan Okhlobystin who called for gays to be burnt alive in ovens.

Facebook last year had 7.5 million users in Russia and WhatsApp had 67 million, researcher Insider Intelligence estimates, while Instagram has said its ban will affect 80 million users in Russia.