Russian government blocks Instagram and starts criminal case against Meta

The Russian Federation is blocking access to Instagram in response to Facebook’s anti-Russian policy. The attorney general of the country is also starting a criminal case against Meta for the alleged criminal activities of the ‘extremist organization’.

Instagram will be blocked on March 14, Reuters reported after a publication by the Russian news agency RIA. Until then, users have the option to transfer their photos and videos to another social medium. Russia previously blocked access to Facebook because of ‘discrimination against Russian media’. WhatsApp, also owned by the American Meta, is seen as a means of communication and is therefore not blocked for the time being.

Russia’s actions are a direct response to Meta’s conspicuous policies following the invasion of Ukraine. On Friday, it was announced that Facebook is temporarily allowing calls for violence against Russian troops, which the country says has led to illegal death threats. It is not clear what exactly such a criminal case could bring about.

Instagram is very popular in the country with an estimated 60 million Russian users. According to a Meta executive, users in Russia generate roughly 1.5 percent of total advertising revenue across all of the company’s services. Based on Meta’s revenue from 2021, a complete blockage of its services in Russia costs about 4.3 million euros daily.