To the chagrin of Russian influencers, the Instagram social network has been inaccessible without a VPN since Monday in Russia. Moscow accuses the Meta subsidiary of spreading calls for violence against its population in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
“I am still at the stage of anger, shared with its subscribers Karina Nigay, followed by 3 million accounts. That of acceptance is still far away. A video of the young woman being indignant at this situation and in tears has gone viral on the Internet.
One of the #Russian bloggers cries that in two days her Instagram will stop working
She does not care at all about the thousands of dead people, including her compatriots. Obviously, her biggest worry right now is that she won’t be able to post pictures of food from restaurants. pic.twitter.com/LSdBiSlwHr
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 11, 2022
On Twitter, the European media Nexta published the sequence, adding in the caption: “She does not care about the thousands of dead people, including her compatriots. Her biggest worry at the moment is that she won’t be able to post pictures of food in a restaurant.
At the head of an account followed by 23.3 million subscribers, reality TV star Olga Buzova was also moved by her situation: “I don’t consider all this as a job, it’s a part of my soul. My life has been taken from me”.
For influencers, Instagram is a work tool that allows them to generate income by monetizing their publications, as Madame Figaro reminds us. The action taken by the government is costing them.
VKontakte and Telegram to the rescue
Like Nexta, many Internet users were indignant at the complaints of influencers about the situation in Ukraine, the bombardments by the Russian army and the deaths of civilians and soldiers.
To keep in touch with their fans, some influencers now use Telegram or VKontakte, the “Russian Facebook”. “I keep sharing cool Russian brands with you!” shared Karina Nigay, who seems to have adjusted to her new life without Instagram quite quickly.
The social network is now also on the list of “restricted access” sites published by the telecommunications policeman Roskomnadzor, joining the networks Facebook, Twitter and several media where it is possible to see criticism of Russian power.
Since the start of the offensive against Ukraine on February 24, the Russian authorities have multiplied their efforts to control the information on the conflict published on the internet.