Instagram Banned In Russia Following Controversial Policy Change As Putin Openly Confronts Meta

Earlier today, Russia blocked Instagram from being accessible within the country, reportedly as part of a retaliation for Meta allowing calls for violence to be posted on Facebook as long as they target Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko or Russians in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to Reuters.

The initial spark was caused due to Facebook's policy being changed to allow posts that are in direct support of the self-proclaimed Nazi Azov Battalion on the side of Ukraine in the ongoing conflict. Initial reasons by Putin for his invasion of Ukraine included mention of Nazis being deeply embedded, and Russia sees Facebook now allowing support for the battalion as aiding Nazis, which has led to Russia attempting to mark Meta as an extremist organization.

"Meta would allow praise of the right-wing Azov battalion, which is normally prohibited".

Sorry, the Azov battalion is not "right wing". They're out-and-out Nazis. They say so. They're the last real Nazis in the world, and they're armed.

And that's just fine by Facebook. https://t.co/75CryPVGOR

— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) March 10, 2022

JUST IN 🚨 Russia moves to declare Facebook parent Meta as ‘extremist organization’

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) March 11, 2022

Russia opens criminal investigation of Meta over death calls on Facebook https://t.co/wphsnwo7Cf pic.twitter.com/8YjSKunQ0A

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 11, 2022

⚡️Russia blocks Instagram.

Russia has blocked the social network after its parent company, Meta, said it would relax its hate speech policy, allowing calls for violence against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 11, 2022

Russia's fighting back against Meta wasn't seen with only scorn and discontent, as many online, while not favoring Russia either, voiced their content at seeing Meta and Zuckerberg get dragged for what is viewed as a double-standard in the company's policy. This follows a continuing trend of looking at other war campaigns and humanitarian tragedies across the world and wondering why the same policy and care has not been taken across the board.

#Russia is banning Western social media, I think it is time for Twitter</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Meta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Meta instagram</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">YouTube and others to delete accounts of the Russian government and propaganda outlets as they are openly promoting and justifying war crimes and spreading lies and disinformation

— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) March 11, 2022

Meta's double standards!

Meta platforms will permit its users in some countries to call for violence against Russian soldiers following their invasion of Ukraine, while it has been censoring Palestinian content for its"violence". It's hypocrisy and racism,can't be anything else! pic.twitter.com/eyl7mbI21A

— V PALESTINE 🇵🇸 (@V_Palestine20) March 11, 2022