Instagram is the latest app to get a ban in Russia
Comes into force on Monday
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It was only a matter of time really: afterblocking access to Facebookwithin its borders, Russia has now announced that another Meta-owned platform, Instagram, is also going to be banned in the country from the start of next week.
The decision was made by Russian communications agencyRoskomnadzor(viaProtocol) after Meta said it would permit certain calls for violence against invading Russian soldiers on Instagram and Facebook – something the Kremlin was not happy about.
Meta as a whole has now been labeled as an “extremist” organization by Russian authorities, and legal proceedings have been started against it. The block will begin on Monday, March 14.
For its part,Meta has emphasizedthat its relaxing of the rules around calls to violence are specific to the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They only apply in Ukraine itself, and only to Russian military forces, not the Russian people.
More blocks
“Our policies are focused on protecting people’s rights to speech as an expression of self-defense in reaction to a military invasion of their country,” said Facebook’s Nick Cleggin a statement. It’s for “ordinary Ukranians expressing their resistance and fury” at the invasion, the statement continued.
As the war has played out over social media, Russia has been busy trying to stem the tide of anti-Russian sentiment while also spreading misinformation of its own. Twitter seems to be unofficially blocked or at least heavily restricted, while TikTok is only displaying content from Russia inside Russia.
On the other side, Russian state-owned media outletshave been bannedfrom both theGoogleandAppleapp stores. In recent days, pro-Russia accounts on social media have been suggesting scenes of suffering and devastation in Ukraine areactually staged.
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With the wider world continuing to show anger and disbelief at the actions of Russia, the country finds itself increasingly isolated. Numerous tech companies, includingAmazonandMicrosoft, are no longer doing business in Russia as the war continues.
Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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