Instagram Officially Blocked, Russian Influencers Cry

 


The Russian government has officially blocked Instagram since Monday (14/3) yesterday. Russian influencers who rely on Instagram to upload their content also burst into tears in response to the policy.

The Kremlin announced it was blocking Instagram over the weekend, following Meta's policy of allowing Facebook and Instagram users to make violent remarks against Russian soldiers.



Instagram users are given 48 hours to move their content to the social media platform before being blocked. Russia has previously blocked Facebook and Twitter for discriminating against Russian media.



In response to this policy, several influencers from Russia uploaded videos containing goodbyes to their followers on Instagram. Not a few of them cry in the video, like reality show star Olga Buzova.


"I'm not afraid to admit that I'm afraid of losing you guys. I don't know what the future will be like. I don't know," said Buzova, who has 23.2 million followers, as quoted by Insider, Tuesday (15/3/2022).



"I'm just sharing my life, work and soul. I'm not doing this all as a job, it's a part of my soul. It feels like a big part of my heart and life is taken for granted," he continued.







Another Russian influencer asked his fans to switch to Telegram or to the social media VKontakte (VK) if they still want to follow their idol. VK is a social media founded by Pavel Durov, before he fled to Dubai and founded Telegram.


Like influencer Valeria Chekalina who wrote 'Instagram is no more' in her Instagram bio followed by a crying emoji. The influencer, who has 10.5 million followers, said all of his new content would be uploaded to Telegram and VK.


Support from followers immediately poured in for Russian influencers. But there are also those who criticize because these influencers are considered insensitive after complaining about losing their platform and followers in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


"Oh my God, in Ukraine people are dying, children are in the subway, there is no place to sleep, they are losing everything, and you are crying because of Instagram," said one Instagram user under Buzova's post.



Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri also criticized the blocking of the photo-sharing platform in Russia. He said this policy would cut off access for 80 million people in Russia from each other and from the rest of the world.


Instagram is the second most popular Meta app in Russia, behind WhatsApp. According to Sensor Tower data, Instagram has been downloaded 166 million times in Russia's Apple App Store and Google Play Store since 2014.

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