a week later place a ban on Facebook in Russiathe country’s communications agency Roskomnadzor Announced it will also ban Instagram. While Facebook’s ban cited “discrimination against Russian media,” this time the government claims it’s happening because of a decision by parent company Meta that runs moderators. allow posts calling for violence against Russian soldiers if they originate from certain countries, including Ukraine.
Google translated from Russian, the agency’s statement reads as follows:
As you know, on March 11, Meta Platforms Inc. made an unprecedented decision by allowing the publication of information containing calls for violence against Russian citizens on its social networks Facebook and Instagram.
Messages circulating on the Instagram social network encouraging and provoking violent acts against Russians, in connection with which the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office demanded that Roskomnadzor restrict access to this social network.
Since it will take time for active users of Instagram to transfer their photo and video materials to other social networks and notify their contacts and subscribers, Roskomnadzor decided to complete the procedure for imposing restrictions on access to Instagram at 00:00 on March 14, providing users with an additional 48 hours of transition period.
The government decision does not mention that Russian oligarchs have used Instagram to speak out against the invasion. In some cases, this extends to the children of oligarchs who have become influential people with large followings, such as Sofia Abramovich, daughter of billionaire Roman Abramovich, who allegedly shared a message that read: “the biggest and most successful lie in the Kremlin’s propaganda is that most Russians are with Putin.” Banker Oleg Tinkov, who at one point was the 15th richest person in Russia, is one of the most notable dissidents. with a post which ended by saying: “We are against this war!”
Regarding the “unprecedented” step taken by Meta in terms of content moderation, a report from Vice last summer noted a similar decision to temporarily allow content including “death to Khamenei” calls and chants that emerged during a period of protests in the country’s southwestern region of Khuzestan.
The news of the ban also comes just a few days after Meta announced plans for Instagram to tag state media outlets and that in Russia and Ukraine, it is “hiding information about people’s followers, who they follow, and people who follow each other for private accounts based in these two countries.”
The blockade will not take effect until March 14 and the Russian state media agency RIA Novosti reports it will not apply to the WhatsApp platform, also owned by Meta. earlier in the day, Russian government officials threatened a banrequiring Meta to confirm or refute the information that was first reported by Reuters.
Last night, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said: “As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have temporarily allowed forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules, such as violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We will not yet allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.”
president of global affairs at Meta Nick Clegg said in a statement on Friday that the company’s policies were “focused on protecting people’s right of expression as an expression of self-defense in reaction to a military invasion of their country.” Clegg said that if Meta/Instagram applied its permanent policies without adjustment, “we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and anger” to the Russian invasion, “which would rightly be considered unacceptable.”
Clegg said the temporary policy would apply only within Ukraine itself. “We have no problem with the Russian people,” he said, adding that “we will not tolerate Russophobia or any kind of discrimination, harassment or violence towards Russians on our platform.”
Update March 11 at 2:30 pm ET: Added statement from Meta’s chair of global affairs, Nick Clegg