Instagram users in Russia have been informed that the service would be discontinued at midnight on Sunday, following the announcement last week by its owner, Meta Platforms (FB.O), that it would permit social media users in Ukraine to post messages including “Death to the Russian invaders.”
The state communications regulator advised people to move their photos and videos from Instagram before it had been shut down, and to move to Russia’s own “competitive internet platforms.” Meta, which also owns Facebook, stated on Friday that its temporary change in its hate speech policy implemented only to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion on February 24.
It would have been wrong, the organisation said, to prevent Ukrainians from “expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces.”
The judgement sparked outrage in Russia, where authorities launched a criminal investigation into Meta and prosecutors on Friday asked a court to declare the US tech behemoth a “extremist organisation.”
According to Instagram’s CEO, the ban will affect 80 million users. Russia already has restricted Facebook in the nation in reaction to what it asserts are restrictions on access to Russian media on the platform. The regulator Roskomnadzor outlined the proposal to allow calls for violence against Russians as a violation of international law in a statement to Instagram users.
Meanwhile, major technology companies have taken steps to prevent Russian state media from the use of their platforms to propagate misinformation and propaganda, particularly among European users.
Google has banned European users from having viewed RT and Sputnik YouTube channels, and TikTok has disabled their European accounts. Russian state media has been barred from using Instagram and Facebook, according to Meta.
