The move cuts off tens of millions of users.
Russia has implemented its plan to block Instagram. According to the Washington Post, the country shut down access on March 14th, as promised, leaving nearly 60 million users without simple access (according to Statista). The restriction was imposed after Russian regulator Roskomnadzor ‘temporarily’ allowed Ukrainian users to call for the deaths of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his troops invading Ukraine.
Since then, Meta is said to have revised its advice. According to Reuters, a leaked internal memo from global affairs President Nick Clegg revealed that the company was “narrowing the focus” of its policy to once again prohibit calls for Putin’s death, as well as a warning that the soldier exemption did not allow people to wish harm against all Russians.
It’s not certain if any Russians can access Instagram through VPNs. At least some users couldn’t use those connection tunnels to circumvent the ban. Major Instagram creators have been telling followers to join them in the secure chat app Telegram, which still operates in the country and has become vital during the Ukraine war as a relatively private and surveillance-resistant communications tool.
There’s no guarantee Russia will reverse its stance on Instagram even if it considers Meta’s revised guidance acceptable. The nation has already blocked Facebook and Twitter, and made it illegal for media to publish content that challenges the government’s official line on Ukraine. Putin’s administration has been determined to silence political dissent, and unknown agents have supposedly aided that goal by paying Russian TikTok stars to spread pro-Kremlin messages despite a ban on new uploads. Russia still considers Western social media a threat, and that’s unlikely to change in the near future.
