Russia has banned Instagram and made it inaccessible to its population after announcing the ban last week in response to Meta’s decision (parent company) to allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russian soldiers following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The new development that happened today was revealed by an internet monitoring service, GlobalCheck.
The Verge reported that Russia has been steadily restricting access to online platforms to control the flow of information about the war and has already banned Facebook and Twitter.
“This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as 80% of Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country. This is wrong”, Adam Mosseri, the Instagram chief tweeted it last Friday.
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, 2022
Over the weekend, Russian influencers on Instagram posted farewell messages to their followers, encouraging them to follow them on other platforms, or download VPN software to bypass the state’s ban.
The Washington Post Report that one Russian fashion influencer, Karina Nigay, bemoaned the ban in a live video. “This is my work,” said Nigay. “Imagine you were just fired completely from work and you aren’t receiving any income at all, but at the same time you have expenses for your family, for your team if you have subordinates, and then all of a sudden you have nothing to pay your team.”
Nigay later suggested the ban might turn out to be good for Russian fashion brands. She also responded to commenters on her video who were unfavorably comparing her complaints to the plight of Ukrainians by saying, “Listen, to those who are writing all sorts of filth, all these propaganda stories, I don’t give a shit.”
Instagram has also given a platform for Russians to speak out against the war, including wealthy oligarchs and their families. Sofia Abramovich, daughter of billionaire Roman Abramovich, shared an anti-Putin post on Instagram before deleting it, while wealthy Russian banker Oleg Tinkov posted that the war was “unthinkable and unacceptable.”
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