Blocking of Instagram in Russia, leaves its citizens between grief and fatalism | ECONOMY

Between sorrow and resignation, the news of Meta has been received, which decided to limit the services of Instagram in Russia, now that the Russian power tries to strictly control the information about the conflict in Ukraine.

“How will I kill my time? What I am going to do? Everyone is on Instagram…” says Ekaterina Makarova, a 28-year-old logistics worker who lives in St. Petersburg.

“I’ll maybe go to VKontakte or Telegram, if they’re not blocked,” he said, referring to the Russian equivalent of Facebook and encrypted messaging widely used in Russia.

Authorities announced Friday that they will restrict access to Instagram in Russia from midnight, accusing the network of spreading hate speech against Russians amid the military offensive in Ukraine.

The American giant Meta, which owns Instagram, as well as Facebook and WhatsApp, had announced on Thursday to apply exceptions to its operating rules on incitement to violence by not suppressing messages hostile to the Russian military and leaders.

Sites with “restricted” access in Russia become virtually inaccessible without the use of a virtual private network (VPN). This is already the case with Facebook and Twitter.

Instead of an immediate blockade, the telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor gave Instagram two days to make it easier for users to move their content to other platforms.

Since the announcement among the most assiduous users, panic spreads.

The video of a Russian “influencer” crying because of the blockade has gone viral and some netizens accuse her of indecency when considering what is happening in Ukraine.

“Go to Kharkiv, Instagram still works there,” said an Internet user ironically, citing the second largest city in Ukraine surrounded by Russian forces and risking furious fighting.

Karina Nigaï, a blogger followed by three million people on Instagram, compares her grief to a duel.

“I am in a state of shock and resignation is still far away,” he wrote, although he sends his subscribers to the VKontakte and Telegram accounts.

– “We will live without it!” –

As in the rest of the world, Instagram is a very popular platform in Russia among young people, who compulsively spread photos and videos there.

“There are bloggers who make money” on Instagram, and the blocking “is not good for them,” says Anastassia Malova, a 23-year-old student. But to me “that doesn’t affect me much.”

Like her, some users seem resigned. “If they close it, then let them do it and I’ll go to Telegram!” says Alexeï Garkucha, a 41-year-old painter.

“We will live without it!” says Nikolaï Ermenko, a 45-year-old engineer.

Victoria Lilova, a 29-year-old teacher, is not going to suffer “personally”, but she “feels sad for charities, because they make a lot of money through Instagram”.

Alexandra Mitroshina, an influencer who has more than 2.4 million subscribers on Instagram, cares “for small and medium-sized companies whose businesses are related to Instagram.”

For the promotion of clothes, furniture, or language courses, among other activities, Instagram is a crucial online sales tool for many Russian companies.

The same goes for artists, who depend on their visibility on this platform in Russia and abroad to get clients.

The lockdown will also affect opposing moves as well.

Instagram is one of the social networks most used by the imprisoned opponent Alexei Navalni, whose team spreads his messages there.

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