Russia announced the plan to block Instagram from March 14th. The decision plan came after Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc, said it would allow posts that call for violence against Vladimir Putin and Russian soldiers involved in the invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, Russia’s general prosecutor’s office said that it had moved to recognize Meta as an “extremist organization,” adding that the platform had also been used to encourage “mass riots accompanied by violence.”
Russia has already controlled Twitter and blocked Facebook last week, both of which are owned by Meta.
Meta’s Global Affairs President, Nick Clegg, responded by defending what he described as “taken in extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances.”
In the statement, he said, “Our policies are focused on protecting people’s rights to speech as an expression of self-defense in reaction to a military invasion of their country.”
Responding to reports that the Russian government is considering designating Meta as an extremist organization for its policies in support of speech: pic.twitter.com/Y8sUbZDSML
— Nick Clegg (@nickclegg) March 11, 2022
Allowing calls for violence against the Russian army on Facebook is “protecting people’s rights to speech as an expression of self-defense in reaction to a military invasion of their country,” He continued the statement.
Putin passed a new law last week that charged Russians of sharing false information about the war with up to 15 years in prison.
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