Russia Bans Instagram - What’s the Full Story?
Russia has announced a ban on Instagram after Instagram allows its users to post content which calls out for Violence against the Russian President and Russian forces.
Instagram owner Meta, always had a policy which did not allow people to post any content which encouraged violence and killings etc. However, on March 11, Meta changed their policy and said that Facebook and Instagram will allow people from some parts of the world to post any content which promotes violence or killings of the Russian President and Russian Soldiers. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said, “As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we are temporarily allowing expressions that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow calls for violence against Russian civilians.”
Soon after that, messages started circulating on the Instagram social network encouraging and provoking violent acts against Russians. The Russian authorities called for a criminal investigation to be launched against Meta as it promotes violence against the Russian President and the army. They also ordered “Roskomnadzor” - A Russian media company which takes care of the Russian state media to ban Instagram in Russia. 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 followers about the same, Roskomnadzor decided to ban Instagram at 00:00 on 14th March, providing users with 48 hours of transition period to transfer their data and contacts. Earlier on 4 March, Roskomnadzor had already blocked Facebook in Russia over "discrimination" against Russian media. Meta owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. However, WhatsApp is not currently being blocked in Russia as it is a messaging platform rather than a social networking site.
Meanwhile, as the invasion has entered its third week, the city of Lviv in Ukraine has largely been targeted by Russia's continuous aggression with constant air attacks. Local authorities say 35 people were killed and 134 injured at the military base, However no foreign national has been identified amongst the victims of the attacks.
