• Russia announced it will ban Instagram on March 14, a week after blocking Facebook.
  • The country's communications agency cited "calls for violence against Russians" as the reason.
  • Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has asked Meta to be labeled as an "extremist organization."

Russia's communications agency Roskomnadzor announced that it will ban Instagram in the country from March 14, according to the agency's website. 

The statement released on Friday reads: "Roskomnadzor decided to complete the procedure for imposing restrictions on access to Instagram at 00:00 on March 14, providing users with an additional 48 hours of transition period."

The decision comes a week after Russia blocked access to Facebook, which the communications agency said was a result of Meta making "an unprecedented decision by allowing the posting of information containing calls for violence against Russian citizens."

Meta did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of normal working hours. 

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, tweeted on Friday that 80 million Russians will be cut off from one another, and "from the rest of the world."

 

Insider's Isobel Asher Hamilton reported on Friday that Russia's Prosecutor General's Office asked Meta to be labeled as an "extremist organization" under Russian law.

It follows reports that Meta had created exemptions in its hate speech rules to temporarily allow Facebook and Instagram users to call for the death of President Putin, as well as violence against Russian soldiers. 

Read the original article on Business Insider

Dit artikel is oorspronkelijk verschenen op z24.nl