Instagram has been banned in Russia due to calls to violence
According to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s state media watchdog, Instagram will be block due to “calls for violence” against Russian soldiers.
Instagram’s owner, Meta, has stated that users in certain countries will call for violence against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian soldiers. In addition, it will temporarily allow some violent posts that commonly violate its rules, such as “death to the Russian invaders. It does, however, state that it will not tolerate calls for violence against Russian civilians.
In response to Meta’s policy shift, Russia urged the US to end the social media giant’s extremist activities. According to the agency, the Prosecutor General’s Office has asked Roskomnadzor, the state media watchdog, to restrict access to Instagram. Due to the “distribution of information materials containing calls to carry out violent actions against Russians, including servicemen. In addition, roskomnadzor announced on March 4 that it was blocking Facebook access in Russia due to “discrimination” against Russian media.
Meta is the owner of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
On the other hand, WhatsApp is not currently block in Russia because it is a messaging platform rather than a social network. However, this had been a long time coming. For a long time, Russian authorities have threatened to ban platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
Even by Russian standards, declaring a major technology company an “extremist organization” is a drastic step. However, the long-term implications are significant. According to some experts, Instagram is extremely popular in Russia and is critical for small businesses and lifestyle bloggers.
Furthermore, few Russians understand how to use a VPN, which means. That large swaths of the population may be cut off from some powerful Western social media platforms. There’s also the matter of WhatsApp, which Meta owns and is the most popular messenger in Russia.
