new Delhi. Russia on Monday blocked Instagram for about 80 million users in the country. Russia’s decision comes at a time when Instagram’s parent company Meta allegedly allowed violent posts against Russian soldiers and President Vladimir Putin on Facebook and Instagram in some countries.
According to Internet monitoring service GlobalCheck, most of the country’s population is unable to access social media platforms.
Russian influencers on Instagram posted farewell messages to their followers asking them to follow them on other social media platforms or download VPN (virtual private network) software to bypass the ban.
As The Verge reports, Instagram has also provided a platform for Russians to speak out against the war, including the wealthy elite and their families.
Last week, the Russian government’s communications agency announced that it would block Instagram in Russia from March 14.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that more than 80 percent of people on Instagram in Russia follow accounts from outside Russia.
He said in a video message, “The situation is appalling. We are doing everything we can to help keep people safe. We have made encrypted chats available to everyone in Ukraine and Russia. We’ve got everyone in the region.” You are encouraged to make your accounts private.”
This step has been taken by Russia after Facebook (now Meta) changed the rules regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meta had said in its statement that, opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is changing the head speech policy. Under this, Russia has allowed its users that they can openly speak against Putin on social media platforms.
Russia has also taken tough steps regarding the change of rules made by Meta against Putin. Russia responded by declaring META an extremist organization.
The social network said its decision was taken in “extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances”.
In a rare move, Meta allowed posts with violent speech towards Russian soldiers on Facebook and Instagram in specific countries, including encouragement to harm or even death to President Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
The whole world is facing the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine war. Big companies have come under its grip. Many companies have completely stopped their operations there in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After this, now gradually tough steps are being taken from the Russian side as well.
At the same time, the use of Instagram has been completely banned in Russia.
Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, said last week that his policies focused on protecting people’s rights to speech as an expression of self-defense in response to a military invasion of his country.
—AnyTV News
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