Russia to block Instagram over ‘death to invaders’ posting rule

Moscow also opens criminal case into Instagram’s owner, Meta, for allowing posts calling for violence against Russian forces.

Russia has announced plans to block access to Instagram and launched a criminal case against its owner, Meta Platforms Inc, after the company said it would allow posts that call for “death to the Russian invaders”.

Friday’s move is the latest in Russia’s confrontation with United States-based social media platforms that has escalated since its invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow has already limited access to Twitter and blocked Facebook, which is also owned by Meta.

Russia’s communications and media regulator, Roskomnadzor, said it was restricting access to hugely popular Instagram because of the platform is spreading “calls to commit violent acts against Russian citizens, including military personnel”.

The ban will come into effect on Monday, it said, allowing active Instagram users “time to transfer their photos and videos to other social networks and notify their followers”.

In response, Meta’s Global Affairs President Nick Clegg defended what he described as a temporary decision “taken in extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances”.

“I want to be crystal clear: 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,” he said in a statement.

“The fact is, if we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable.”

He noted that the policy only applies in Ukraine and the company hasn’t changed its policies against hate speech targeting Russian people.

‘Illegal calls’

But Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, had already said it was launching an investigation of Meta, and prosecutors pushed for the Silicon Valley giant to be branded “extremist”.

“A criminal case has been initiated … in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram,” said the committee, which reports directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It was not immediately clear what the consequences of the criminal case might be.

Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services are all popular in Russia, with 7.5 million, 50.8 million and 67 million users last year respectively, according to researcher Insider Intelligence.

Russia’s RIA news agency, citing a source, said the legal moves will not affect WhatsApp as the messaging app is considered a means of communication not a way to post information.

Meta’s relaxing of its rules had met with controversy almost immediately, and the United Nations voiced alarm, warning it could lead to “hate speech” against Russians.

UN Rights Office Spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell said that the policy lacked clarity, which “could certainly contribute to hate speech directed at Russians in general”.

Contrasting views

Meta, which boasts billions of users globally across its apps, has previously struggled with what it would allow people to post in moments of upheaval.

In July 2021, the firm temporarily allowed posts calling for “death to Khamenei,” referring to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during protests that rocked the country.

Tech platforms have had to navigate a slew of thorny issues related to the war in Ukraine, such as when US Senator Lindsey Graham called for the assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin in a televised interview and on Twitter.

“The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out,” says Graham’s tweet from March 3, which Twitter has not taken down.

Meta’s decision drew sharply contrasting views.

“The policy regards calls for violence against Russian soldiers,” said Emerson Brooking, a disinformation expert at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.

“A call for violence here, by the way is also a call for resistance because Ukrainians resist a violent invasion,” he added.

But some expressed deep concerns, like Lehigh University Professor Jeremy Littau, who tweeted: “‘We don’t allow hate speech except against certain people from a certain country’ is one hell of a can of worms.”

Facebook and other US tech giants have moved to penalize Russia for the attack on Ukraine, and Moscow has also taken steps to block access to the leading social media network as well as Twitter.

Russia thus joined the very small club of countries barring the largest social network in the world, along with China and North Korea.

Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last month, Russian authorities have also stepped up pressure against independent media, though press freedoms in the country were already rapidly waning.

Moscow blocked Facebook and restricted Twitter the same day last week that it backed the imposition of jail terms on media publishing “false information” about the military.

Should portions be Standardised?

Fish and chips what's not to love I sigh and you go you go have a chipping a poker chips on Yahoo harmless. Big school does not a big problem but I am hunter everyday you go and the U. as big a portion she gets all I would think but not everyone is agreeing always about that's quite right yeah I thought as a new report out that saying that they should be standardized portion sizes so that we can help to.

Should portions be Standardised?

Will there be city crisis in this country well let's talk to nutritionist Amanda Ursell about or if they say the whole point is we don't know how many calories are in abortion itches they give us a wax case scenario for medium in bullshit and efficient shit well what happens is that with the fall of a done just this week and what they found towards the agriculture horticulture development board what they found I mean the figures don't forget me because when I write quite alright they went that they they go to the variation the size of a medium sized portions he's going to fish and chips at high tide meeting Clinton chips and you could get anything from 230 calories for the college up to 1400 is affected because but yet called said that's a huge difference just in the call to boot just going for a medium copies and the chips with a 240 calories to 2147 it depending on which fish and chip shop you intensity meeting Clinton chips please wooden massive variation of if you'll really bothered about how many calories you anything.

You don't really go for fish and chips more uncommercial news what why not be able to go and have something not that I know what you're getting I think that's the point of that you know we should be saying don't ever have fish and chips because that really is not a state but that but that that there is it that the problem of this is it's not practicable. Is it I mean we've had loads it with a chick peas tracing along today Marino fishbar yeah strikes molding to you saying and we can't do it because we call our own face if you want to standardize portion Cuba by pre cut face. Take your point that there is actually an industry guideline for fish and chip shops and markets 70 grounds to cold which is 420 calories and 284 grams of chips which 600 cases that is not just actually in industry guideline that I know you've flipped point of view is difficult but even if people want to get to roughly the same size that would cut that huge difference that we were talking about initially down so I didn't anyone wants to news of making a little with it you have to step in at that particular size portion but that isn't a beast a crisis in this country we do have initiatives so if we can start to do. Just to make small changes across the whole food industry is what you'll sky fight continued very small changes that the big outcomes in it in in that difficult to 96.



I think it would put chocolate manufacturers now he got started knit sizes of chalk deposit you know more than 250 calories proportion this issue to heart before they started doing that but they've done it and consumers of accepted it so I think that's a point which you can say okay this wouldn't moving in the right direction to get found the dice portions is not as soft as it sounds mission and you don't think the fish and chips is a has a great British institution it's a trait is not something that people do every single day so if people are going to go out there not going to be worrying about counting calories just like a Christmas dinner you don't want to know how many calories are in that it's that it's a treat for lots of people know why some people do have it more accurate but also it sets a standard safety somebody might be having fishing ships that would sweep the might be having fish and chips that work with Friday which is a big tradition in the what county what restaurant so if you've got you know had the sort of the size you get subdivision chip shot then you'll be expecting that when you go into your wet continue and about my happen knock on effects will ease up a home if you were doing fish and chips a homesick I think Mississippi a bigger picture here than just saying you've got to have this site because it's what you're going to be to efficiently because it's an overall picture which could set things about unfair just to be stigma not the state rising to because we think the fish and chips because.

I fax you a confession chip shop believe or not when I was in that sounds and I'll admit what you say is a treat it's not there but the regulars coming in almost every evening and it's not the fish that's the bad part I date thing is the other things that they serve the box sausages by accident mas bars the Padres eccentric and they would add that with the fish and chips and that's what makes a portion because that's what makes it was in my opinion because facies protein at the end of the day that's what about coming of satin finish that's new yeah but if it's but I I think I think you have to look at this in the prospective of the child abuse to patent shouldn't mattress published in August this year and we've had a reformulation products come from that. And it talks about portion sizes and and the idea that the industry should just be looking at everything radius not just.

That is not what you suspicion chips are absolutely right at people just on the back of taking responsibility hands it to help change the set point and and our expectations because we gradually crept up in portion size now with saying is let's try gradually go down again to at least be say 20 years ago while Twitter doesn't agree today flooring. I'm just not as the obsession with calorie counting isn't helpful food company chosen by calories 11 romance it but I think that's right that what we say to change the portraits I see you don't have to worry about because there's a lot of Amanda good still tinkling family much indignant middle of going through.