Russia Bans Instagram For Allowing Hate Speech Against Putin

This morning Russia has banned Instagram for allowing hate speech against Putin and Russian soldiers and politicians. This ban is due to Meta's decision to let users call for violence against Putin in the context of the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's communications and media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has told users to remove their photos and videos from Instagram before it shuts down. They also encourage them to switch to Russia's competitive internet platform.

“We need to ensure the psychological health of citizens, especially children, and adolescents, to protect them from harassment and insults online.”

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications, and media regulator

According to Meta, it was wrong to prevent Ukrainians from “expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces.”

Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into Meta, with prosecutors asking to label the company an extremist organization.

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Russia’s ban on Instagram

Russia's ban on Instagram goes into effect on March 14, 2022. According to the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, this ban will affect 80 million Instagram users. Russia already has limited access to Twitter and partially blocked Facebook, also owned by Meta.

Many Russian bloggers don't believe in the ban either. Reality TV star Olga Buzova, who has the second-largest Instagram audience in Russia, wrote, “Right now, I’m writing this post and crying, I hope this isn’t true.”

Russia has now joined the country club (China and North Korea) in banning this massive social media site.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities have also begun to put pressure on independent media organizations. Due to this, press freedom is rapidly declining in this country.

Keywords: russia, putin, instagram, ukraine