Facebook and Instagram are now banned in Russia, but WhatsApp remains operational
(REUTERS)
It has been just over two weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24 February. Aircraft factories and nuclear power plants have been attacked by Russian forces, with numerous deaths of civilians and soldiers, and reports from Vladimir Putin’s allies that the war is not going according to plan.
While fighting continues on the ground, there is a similar battle happening online. Russia recently banned Facebook and Instagram from the country, other giants have been pulling software, hardware, and services, and cyberattacks are being launched on both sides.
Today, SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk levied a strange challenge to Mr Putin: a fight.
“I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat,” he tweeted, using the Russian alphabet to write Mr Putin’s name. “Stakes are Ukraine,” he continued, despite having no authority to strike such a bizarre deal.
Instagram’s response to Russia
“On Monday, Instagram will be blocked in Russia. This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as ~80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country”, social media head Adam Mosseri tweeted.
The message to Instagram users from the regulator Roskomnadzor described the decision to allow calls for violence against Russians as a breach of international law.
“We need to ensure the psychological health of citizens, especially children and adolescents, to protect them from harassment and insults online,” it said, explaining the decision to close down the platform.
Adam Smith14 March 2022 16:00
Russia designates Meta an extremist organisation
“In accordance with the Federal Law ‘On Countering Extremist Activity’, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation sent an application to the court to recognize Meta Platforms Inc. as an extremist organization and ban its activities in the territory of the Russian Federation,” the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation said today.
WhatsApp “will not be affected by measures against Meta, since it is a means of communication not posting information”, a source told state-owned agency RIA Novosti, contradicting initial reports.
Adam Smith14 March 2022 15:30
Russia bans Facebook and Instagram
Russia, meanwhile, recently took to banning Instagram in the country.
The emails said calls for violence against Russian forces were acceptable when the post is clearly talking about the invasion of Ukraine.
“These are temporary measures designed to preserve voice and expression for people who are facing invasion. As always, we are prohibiting calls for violence against Russians outside of the narrow context of the current invasion”, a Meta spokesperson said.
Adam Smith14 March 2022 15:00
Starlink could reveal Ukrainian targets to Russia
“Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so probability of being targeted is high,” Mr Musk tweeted on Friday. “Please use with caution,” he added.
Adam Smith14 March 2022 14:16
Elon Musk challenges Vladimir Putin to a fight for Ukraine
“I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat,” he tweeted, using the Russian alphabet to write Mr Putin’s name.
“Stakes are Ukraine,” he continued, writing the country’s name in its own language.
In a follow-up tweet, Mr Musk then posted a whole message in Russian. “Do you agree to this fight?”, he wrote, tagging the Kremlin’s official English language Twitter account.
Mr Musk then replied to another Twitter user who suggested that the Russian president would easily win any fight.
“If Putin could so easily humiliate the west, then he would accept the challenge,” Mr Musk wrote. “But he will not.”
Adam Smith14 March 2022 14:08
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Andrew Griffin14 March 2022 14:06
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