Hours after Facebook announced its decision to relax the rules on some of the violent posts against Russian troops, the Kremlin has hit back. The Russian media and internet regulator responsible for online censorship announced on Friday, March 11, that it would “restrict” access to Instagram in the country. Unlike Facebook, this social network, also owned by Meta, has been available to Russian Internet users until now. This decision should, like before for Facebook, greatly complicate the use of Instagram in Russia, where it is very popular.
As of the end of 2021, Instagram had about 62 million active users in the country, according to statistics website Statista, and the number has been growing. Despite the importance in Russia of platforms of Russian origin, such as VKontakte, Telegram or Yandex, the blocking of the American service of photos and short videos will have an impact.
Instagram is critical for small and medium businesses, from beauty blogs to cafes. Max Seddon, Russian correspondent for the Financial Times, commented on Twitter.. “For the Moscow elite, Instagram represents… everything,” added Polina Ivanova, also a journalist for a British newspaper. It is the “primary” platform for small businesses that sometimes use it as a website, as a means of advertising or communicating with customers. added Andrea Palasciano from the AFP agency in Moscow, adding that he had already “bought socks or furniture, ordered a massage, a restaurant and made an appointment with a dentist” with these funds in Russia.
“Instagram in Russia has a young audience, unlike Facebook. Its users are not necessarily politicized,” deciphers Olga Bronnikova, lecturer and sociology researcher at the University of Grenoble-Alpes, member of the research team “Network Resistance, Criticism and Escape from Digital Coercion in Russia”:
“In Russia, Instagram is first of all, like Youtube, a way to make money on your image, carry out professional activities and communicate. After the Facebook closure, some Russian Internet users also see sanctions against Instagram as a prototype of Youtube blocking. The video platform is also widely used. Moreover, with the narrowing of the media space in Russia, bloggers, often journalists who could no longer find work, created their own channel, earning income from advertising. »
Shortly before this, a criminal case was initiated against the American company for “calling for the killing of Russian citizens by employees of the Meta company.” At the same time, the Russian prosecutor’s office demanded that Facebook be recognized as an “extremist” organization.
Live from March 11: the latest information about the war in Ukraine
The day before, on Thursday, March 10, Facebook announced that it would “show leniency” regarding some messages hostile to Russian troops. “Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are lenient with forms of political expression that normally violate our rules on violent speech, such as ‘death to Russian occupiers,’” Andy Stone, head of communications at Meta, the parent company, confirmed to Agence France-Presse. Facebook and Instagram. “We still do not tolerate credible calls for violence against Russian citizens,” he adds.
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Meta’s statement comes after a Reuters article citing emails exchanged between moderators of the social media giant claiming the policy update applies to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania , Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine.
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Facebook blocked in Russia, China and North Korea
Facebook’s moderation rules prohibit threats, insults, and incitement to violence, especially when directed at people because of their race, religion, or sexual orientation. In some cases and depending on the context, the social network allows certain expressions of hostile speech through rules that are sometimes very complex and difficult to apply.
Thus, a year ago, the British daily newspaper The Guardian revealed the contents of Facebook’s internal moderation guide, which explained, in part, that certain types of offensive messages against “public figures” could be tolerated if they acted as “figurative language” provided that the person caused the message was not directly affected. The newspaper cited the phrase “it’s time to [le premier ministre britannique] Boris Johnson is dead or gone,” which could have been left online.
The risk that Russian soldiers and leaders see the massive hostile messages posted in recent weeks on Facebook is low: access to the social network is blocked throughout the Russian Federation by decision of the country’s Internet regulator. Only two other countries have so far permanently blocked access to Facebook: North Korea and China.
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Mr. Stone explained that this decision to partially relax the moderation rules was made because “in the specific context [de la guerre en Ukraine] many posts mention “Russian soldiers” to talk about the Russian army. Our rules continue to prohibit attacks on Russians [en tant qu’individus]. »
The Embassy of the Russian Federation in the United States, located in Washington, protested against this decision and asked the US government to put an end to the “extremist activities” of the Meta.
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