Russia will ban Instagram in 48 hours

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

One week after banning Facebook in Russia, the country's communications agency announced it will also ban the photo-sharing website. The government claims that the ban is happening because of a decision by parent company Meta to allow posts calling for violence against Russian soldiers if they originate from certain countries.

The agency says that it was translated from Russian by Google.

As you know, on March 11, Meta Platforms Inc. made an unprecedented decision by allowing the posting of information containing calls for violence against Russian citizens on its social networks Facebook and Instagram.

Messages are 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 Instagram users 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.

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The government's decision does not mention that Russian billionaires have used social media to speak out against the invasion. In some instances, this extends to the children of billionaires who have become influential with large followings, like the daughter of Roman Abramovich, who shared a message saying that the biggest and most successful lie of the Kremlin is.

The ban is coming in just a few days after Meta announced plans forInstagram to label state media outlets, and that in Russia and Ukraine it is hiding information about people's followers.

The block won't take effect until March 14th, and the also Meta-owned platform will not be affected. Russian government officials threatened a ban on Meta earlier in the day, demanding that they confirm or refute information that was first reported by the news agency.

As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Meta has made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules, according to Andy Stone.