Russia Blocks Instagram Following Facebook... Netizens' Farewell Scenes

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] On the 13th (local time), a day before the Instagram ban was implemented in Russia, netizens were seen bidding farewell to each other and promising to reunite on other social networking services (SNS).

According to major foreign media such as The Washington Post, on the weekend a day before the Instagram ban took effect in Russia, Russian users were busy exchanging final goodbyes and promoting other SNS platforms to move to instead.

On the 11th, Russia's telecommunications, information technology, and media regulator 'Roskomnadzor' announced it would restrict access to Instagram, granting a 48-hour grace period before enforcing the ban starting on the 14th.

As a result, Russian citizens can no longer use Instagram within the country.

The impact was significant not only for ordinary citizens who shared daily life with acquaintances through Instagram but also for influencers, businesses, and charitable organizations that used Instagram for commercial purposes.

Especially for influencers who used Instagram as their stage, they lost followers accumulated over several years overnight and faced the situation of not receiving advertising revenue, which had been their main source of income. They also expressed their intention to continue their relationships with followers by sharing information about alternative SNS platforms.

Small and medium-sized enterprises and organizations that heavily relied on Instagram as a primary sales, promotion, and communication tool were also greatly affected. Some Russian citizens who publicly voiced anti-war opinions through Instagram lost their means to communicate with other Russians and the world.

This Instagram shutdown measure was taken because Meta (formerly Facebook), the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, allowed posts inciting violence against Russians. On the same day, the Russian Federal Investigative Committee announced it had launched an investigation related to this matter.

Another Meta platform, Facebook, along with Twitter, has already been blocked since the 4th. The reason cited was discrimination against Russian state media and the spread of false information.

Earlier, Meta banned Russian state media accounts from advertising or commercial activities on its platforms and downgraded content linking to Russian state media accounts and their websites.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.