Instagram ban comes into effect in Russia

Russia’s state media watchdog has notified the country’s Instagram users that access to the Meta-owned social media platform will be blocked from Monday March 14, 2022.

The measure follows earlier restriction of Twitter and Facebook after Meta’s decision to allow calls for violence against Russians involved in the Ukrainian conflict. Russian users were given 48 hours to move their data before the official ban took effect.

Earlier this month, Moscow blocked Facebook over “extremism” after media reported that Meta, which owns both platforms, allowed “posts on the Ukraine war calling for violence against invading Russians or [for Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s death.”

The Russian embassy had previously accused Meta of “aggressive and criminal behavior,” urging Washington to “stop the extremist activities of Meta and take measures to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

On Sunday, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, denounced Moscow’s decision to ban the platform as “wrong,” arguing that it would hurt the site’s 80 million Russian users.

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