Russia completely Bans Instagram Amid the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. As Stated by internet monitoring service Global Check, the photo-sharing social media platform has become inaccessible to the vast majority of Russia’s population.
Russia Bans Instagram Amid the Ukraine Invasion
On the 11 of March 2022, the Russian government announced that it would be banning Instagram on the 14 of March. The move was made in retaliation against Meta for revising its hate speech policy, which would allow Facebook and Instagram users to create posts that would work against Russia alongside the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. And about three days later, the country followed through on that promise as part of its efforts to restrict access to social media platforms like Twitter to silence political dissent.
As stated by Reuters, Meta clarified that the guidance only applies to Ukraine and that it would not “permit calls to assassinate a head of state” in reference to the president of Russia President Vladmir Putin. Even so, the ban on Instagram came about 10 days after Russia banned Facebook for blocking its local media outlets.
Social Media Influencers React to Instagram Ban
The Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri Tweeted on Friday that Russia’s Decision to ban Instagram “will cut about 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the remaining part of the world as 80% of people in Russia are following Instagram accounts outside their country. This is wrong.” That 80 million figures would include social media influencers. Over the weekend, they shared their farewell post with all their followers and stated that they can follow them on other platforms like Telegram or download VPN software to circumvent the ban.
As stated by the Washington Post, Russian fashion influencer Karina Nigay, who has amassed over 3 million followers, said something about the ban in a live video. “This is my work,” Nigay Said. “Imagine that you got fired from a company entirely and you are not getting any income at all, but at the same time there are family expenses that you need to meet up with, for your teams if you have subordinates, and then suddenly you are left with nothing to pay your team.”
Karina Istomina, a DJ that has amassed over 400,000 followers on Instagram, stated that the ban will force them to look for a different source of income, as half of the money they got came from ad revenue, per the Guardian. The stated that “To be honest with you, I am absolutely devastated that I am losing my page.n I ran my profile for over 10 years. Most like I will have to look for a new source of income, will have to rediscover myself.”
