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Social media influencers left adrift after Russia Instagram ban: ‘My life is being taken away from me’
Russian social media influencers could be heard across the internet before going dark when Instagram was banned in the country on Monday.Russian state media regulators followed through on the promise to ban Instagram after alleging the platform is being used to call for violence against Russian citizens and military personnel.Russia has already blocked access to Facebook (owned by Meta Platforms, which also owns Instagram), limited access to Twitter and criminalized the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be “fake” reports, as part of President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on social media and news outlets like the BBC. Over 2.8 million refugees have fled Ukraine amid Russian invasion, UN says Many Russian influencers said tearful goodbyes to their followers before asking fans to migrate to other platforms like Telegram and VK, both of which are still permitted in Russia.NEXTA, a Belarusian media outlet, shared a video of an unnamed Russian influencer claiming to be in the “first stages of grief” over the Instagram ban.