The Russian Federation banned Instagram in the country on Monday 14th, March 2022. The ban followed Meta’s policy adjustment calling for violence on Russian invaders in Ukraine. The platform lost access to 80 million users in the country.
The resultant consequences of the ban
The Instagram ban followed that of Facebook and Twitter from the previous week. The country observed a gradual shutdown of social media platforms. The federation aims to restrict and control the flow of information to and from the country during the Russian-Ukraine war.
Instagram had been installed over 166 million times on the Russian App Store. It was the most popular app in the country followed by Facebook and WhatsApp. The users were given a 48-hour transition period before the ban of the application. The ban was also a result of the policy adjustment by Meta for Instagram.
Meta was also criticized by Russian censor Roscomnazdor. He claimed that they were encouraging violence against Russia. Instagram was a platform of criticism and expression against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, it was also a source of income for many.
“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.”, said Karina Nigay, Russian fashion influencer.
The head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri also condemned Russia’s post the ban. He said that 80 million people will be cut off from the world. He also criticized the decision saying that it was completely wrong on their part.
Millions of Instagram users said their goodbyes to the world expressing frustration over the decision. However, they were advised alternative methods to gain access to the restricted platforms by foreign users.
Published By: Apoorva Wakodikar
Edited By: Subbuthai Padma
