Russian regulators said Friday that the country’s Internet users will be blocked from accessing Instagram, saying it’s being used to call for violence against Russian soldiers.
Russian regulators said Friday that the country’s internet users will be blocked from accessing Instagram, saying it’s being used to call for violence against Russian soldiers. In Moscow’s latest move to restrict access to foreign social media platforms, communications, and media regulator Roskomnadzor said in a statement that it’s restricting national access to Instagram. It said the platform is spreading “calls to commit violent acts against Russian citizens, including military personnel.” Roskomnadzor cited a Thursday tweet by Meta spokesman Andy Stone conveying a company statement saying it had “made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules on violent speech, such as ‘death to the Russian invaders’.” Stone’s statement followed a Reuters report that Meta was making a temporary change to its hate speech policy to allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion.
