Instagram is now blocked in Russia

Russia cut off access to tens of millions of users on Monday after threatening to block the photo-sharing website.

In Russia, it's popular to use the social media site. Meta is the second most popular app there. The app has been installed 166 million times in the Russian App Store and on the Play Store, making it three times as popular as Facebook.

Adam Mosseri, the head of the social network, condemned Russia's actions, which will affect 80 million people in the country.

On Monday, Instagram will be blocked in Russia. This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as ~80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country. This is wrong.

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) March 11, 2022

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.

According to a report last week, Meta had quietly adjusted its content policies in order to allow calls to violence against Russian soldiers from within the country.

The policy shift was defended by Meta Global Affairs President Nick Clegg, who characterized it as a temporary change designed to protect people's rights to speech.

If we did not make any changes to our content policies, we would be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians, which would be seen as unacceptable.

savvy users will still be able to find ways to circumvent the Russian government's restrictions on social networks. Last week, in light of Russian restrictions, the social network launched its own censorship workaround, directing users to a dedicated Tor version of the social network.

Twitter launches Tor service allowing users in Russia to bypass internet blocks

Russia says it will block Instagram

Twitter says it’s trying to fully restore service in Russia