Russia bans Instagram as promised, blocking access for 80 million users

Russia’s promised ban on Instagram has kicked into effect today, with the social media platform inaccessible for the vast majority of the country’s population, according to internet monitoring service GlobalCheck.

The country announced plans to ban Instagram last week, in response to parent company Meta’s decision to allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russian soldiers following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has been steadily restricting access to online platforms in an effort to control the flow of information about the war and has already banned Facebook...