Russia blocks Instagram for 80 million users amidst Ukraine conflict

After a string of American and European companies banning Russia from any further business, the world is now seeing how Russia responds to nations aligning with Ukraine.

Foraying into the third week of war, Russia has come up with a new strategy under which it has imposed a ban on Instagram, eliminating contact for 80 million users in the country.

The ban was announced after Instagram’s parent organization Meta allowed posts broadcasting Russia’s unjust violence urging for reciprocating the hostility towards President Vladimir Putin and the Russian army on Facebook and Instagram.

Based on insights from reliable sources, the social media platform has been rendered inaccessible for a vast majority of Russia’s population.

Instagram influencers from Russia bid farewell to their followers and asked them to follow their content on other social media platforms or install VPN (virtual private network) software to dodge the ban.

Instagram remained a key platform for Russians to speak out against their President’s invalid actions to invade the sovereignty of Ukraine and present their views on the country’s wealthy oligarchs and their families.

In response, the Russian government’s communication agency imposed a ban on Instagram in the country starting March 14th.

Speaking on Russia’s recent move, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri quoted that more than 80% of Russians on the social media platform follow accounts from outside countries.

He shed light on the severity of the current situation and added that the platform is giving its best to provide safety by offering encrypted chats for everyone across Ukraine and Russia. Instagram is also encouraging people in conflicted areas to make their accounts private.

While Russia is hell-bent on advertising Meta as an extremist organization under the impression that it is trying to impose policies to speech on Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the platform remains firm that the decision was implemented in response to the unprecedented crisis.

Source Credit: https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/ukraine-crisis-russia-bans-instagram-blocks-access-for-80-mn-users-122031401029_1.html