Instagram users in Russia have been informed that the service will stop from midnight on Sunday. This is after its owner Meta said last week that it would allow users of social networks in Ukraine to post posts containing hate speech against Russia.
According to Reuters, an e-mail from the state communications regulator told people to move their photos and videos from Instagram before access was restricted, and encouraged them to switch to using Russia’s “competitive Internet platforms,”.
Meta, which also owns Facebook, said on Friday that the temporary change in its hate speech policies only applies to Ukraine after Russia’s February 24 invasion. The company said it would be wrong to prevent Ukrainians from “expressing their resistance and anger against the invading military”.
The decision was met with outrage in Russia. The authorities launched a criminal investigation against Meta, and prosecutors asked a court to designate the US technology giant as an “extremist organization”.
The head of Instagram announced that the blockade will affect 80 million users. Russia has already banned the use of Facebook.