What you need to know
- Russia has decided to ban Instagram.
- It follows a decision by Meta not to restrict calls for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers.
- The service will stop working from midnight on March 14.
Russia is set to ban Instagram in the country, following Meta's confession it would not restrict calls for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers on its platform.
State media watchdog Roskomnadzor announced:
As you know, on March 11, Meta Platforms Inc. made an unprecedented decision, allowing on its social networks Facebook and Instagram the posting of information containing calls for violence against Russian citizens.In the social network Instagram, messages are spreading that encourage and provoke the commission of violent acts against Russians, in connection with which the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia demanded that Roskomnadzor restrict access to this social network.
The watchdog acknowledged users would need time to migrate their photos, videos, contacts, and subscribers to other platforms, so said it would give them a 48-hour transition period. As such, the ban on access to Instagram will take place from 00:00 on March 14.
Russia's Prosecutor General's Office had asked the body to look into Meta's platforms earlier this week. The request was open-ended enough that it could have also seen sanctions against WhatsApp and Facebook, however, it looks like these platforms have both escaped action for now.
In a statement previously, Facebook said:
"As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as 'death to the Russian invaders.' We still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,"
The admission seems to have prompted Russia's move to ban the service in the country. Instagram is one of the best iPhone apps for social media, and Instagram's head Adam Mosseri stated on Friday that it would see 80 million people in the country "cut off from one another and from the rest of the world."
On Monday, Instagram will be blocked in Russia. This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as ~80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country. This is wrong.On Monday, Instagram will be blocked in Russia. This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as ~80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country. This is wrong.— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) March 11, 2022March 11, 2022
Companies including Apple have stopped operating in Russia as a result of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which entered its third week on Thursday.
