The head of Tyva, Vladislav Khovalyg, said on Saturday, March 12, that instead of Instagram he would use the social networks VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and the Telegram messenger.
“I decided to start a Telegram channel for operational messages. Instagram is no longer such a reliable communication channel, and such decisions, to put it mildly, are bewildering. In the meantime, my pages on the Russian social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki work without failures, and the link to the tg channel will be in the profile header. Let’s stay in touch during this difficult time,” Khovalyg wrote on his Instagram page.
The heads of the Kursk, Kurgan, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk and Ulyanovsk regions, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and other regions also announced that they would stop using Facebook and Instagram.
Earlier, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, confirmed that the social network would be blocked in Russia on Monday, March 14. He said blocking the social network “will deprive 80 million users in Russia of communication with each other and with the rest of the world.” According to him, about 80% of users in Russia are subscribed to foreign accounts.
On March 10, Reuters, citing a statement from Meta, reported that the organization would temporarily allow its social networks Facebook and Instagram in some countries not to block user calls for violence against Russians. This decision was made against the backdrop of a special operation of the Russian Federation to protect Donbass, which was announced on February 24 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In this regard, Roskomnadzor announced its intention to restrict access to Facebook and Instagram.
On March 11, the regulator announced that Instagram would be blocked at midnight on March 14. As noted in the department, until that time, users will be able to save their photos and videos so as not to lose access to them. In addition, on the fact of the action of Meta, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case for incitement to violence. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office on the same day demanded that the organization be recognized as extremist and restrict access to Instagram.
In mid-February, due to the aggravation of the situation in the Donbass as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics announced the evacuation of the civilian population to the Russian Federation and asked for recognition of independence.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a corresponding decree. On February 24, Russia launched a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. As the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov clarified, the special operation has two goals – the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. According to him, both of these aspects pose a threat to the Russian state and people.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.