Russia restricts access to the social network Instagram, which it accuses of spreading calls for violence against Russians (AFP/OLIVIER DOULIERY)
On Friday, Russia announced that it would restrict access to the social network Instagram, which it accuses of spreading calls for violence against Russians in connection with the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia’s powerful Investigative Committee has previously said it is prosecuting Meta for “calling to kill” Russians after the parent company of Instagram and Facebook relaxed its rules on violent posts targeting the Russian military and leaders.
The organization said it launched these investigations “due to illegal calls for the murder of Russian citizens by employees of the American company Meta.”
And according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, “the content distributed on Instagram contains calls to commit violent acts against Russian citizens, including military personnel.”
Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor said access to Instagram would be restricted from Monday to give users time to transfer their data to other networks.
On Thursday, Meta said it was making exceptions to its policy of inciting violence and hatred by not removing posts hostile to the military and Russian leaders.
“Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are lenient on forms of political expression that normally violate our rules on violent speech, such as ‘death to Russian occupiers,’” Andy Stone, Meta’s communications manager, told AFP.
“We still do not tolerate credible calls for violence against Russian citizens,” he added.
Russia already blocked Facebook on its soil last week in retaliation for a California group’s decision to ban media outlets close to the government (including RT and Sputnik) in Europe.
– UN concerned about Meta’s decision –
Restricted sites or apps usually become inaccessible. This already applies to Twitter, which is subject to the same restrictive measure after the start of the military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
The Instagram app is extremely popular among Russian youth. Above all, it has also become an essential online sales tool for many Russian SMEs, as well as artists and artisans whose lives depend on their presence on this platform.
Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California on October 28, 2021. (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/JUSTIN SULLIVAN)
Facebook was used by only 7.5 million Russians in 2021, or 7.3% of internet users in the country, compared to 51 million for Instagram, according to specialist firm eMarketer.
On Friday, Facebook’s president of international affairs, Nick Clegg, clarified that the updated hate speech and violence policy would only apply in Ukraine, and insisted that it would operate as a “temporary decision made in extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances.”
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday expressed concern about the decision of the American company.
“Obviously this is a very, very complex issue, but it raises concerns from a human rights and international humanitarian law perspective,” explained Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner, during a press briefing in Geneva.
The uncertainty surrounding this statement “could definitely contribute to inciting hatred against Russians in general,” she elaborated.
Meta did not respond to AFP’s request on Friday.
– “Real Time Rules of War” –
For Emerson Brooking, a researcher at the American think tank Atlantic Council, the exceptions allowed by Meta represent an attempt to adapt to an extremely changing and stressful situation.
“Facebook is trying to write the rules of war in real time,” the online disinformation specialist sums up AFP. “War and violence are inextricably linked, they cannot be separated.”
He acknowledges that there is a risk of overflow, which could harm Russia’s population, not just its military and political leadership.
“We have seen throughout history that the violent actions of one country against another lead to calls for violence, intolerance or hatred towards foreigners associated with the aggressor country,” he explains. “You can think of the persecution in the United States of the Germans during World War I or the Japanese in World War II.”
However, the change proposed by Facebook “clearly disapproves of calls for the dehumanization of all Russians,” Mr. Brooking said.
This is not the first time that the Mark Zuckerberg group has tolerated this kind of posting, although the examples are rare: in June 2021, the network thus sanctioned messages from Iranian adversaries calling for the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for two weeks.