First Facebook, now Instagram

One week after placing a ban on Facebook in Russia, the country’s communications agency Roskomnadzor announced it will ban Instagram, too. While the Facebook ban cited “discrimination against Russian media,” this time, the government claims it’s happening because of a decision by parent company Meta directing moderators to allow posts calling for violence against Russian soldiers if they originate from certain countries, including Ukraine.

Google translated from Russian, the agency’s statement says the following:

As you know, on March 11, Meta Platforms Inc. made an unprecedented decision by allowing the posting of information containing calls for violence against Russian citizens on its social networks Facebook and Instagram.
Messages are circulating on the Instagram social network encouraging and provoking violent acts against Russians, in connection with which the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office demanded that Roskomnadzor restrict access to this social network.

Since it will take time for active Instagram users to transfer their photo and video materials to other social networks and notify their contacts and subscribers, Roskomnadzor decided to complete the procedure for imposing restrictions on access to Instagram at 00:00 on March 14, providing users with an additional 48 hours of transition period.

The government’s decision does not mention that Russian oligarchs have used Instagram to speak out against the invasion. In some instances, this extends to the children of oligarchs who have become influencers with large followings like Sofia Abramovich, daughter of billionaire Roman Abramovich, who reportedly shared a message saying, “the biggest and most successful lie of Kremlin’s propaganda is that most Russians stand with Putin.” Banker Oleg Tinkov, who was at one point the 15th-wealthiest person in Russia, is one of the most notable dissenters with a post that ended by saying, “We are against this war!”

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/11/22972869/instagram-ban-russia-ukraine-facebook-whatsapp-meta

Lalasticlala

Good, ban those extremist, US home of terrorist.