Council of bloggers under the Federation Council asked Putin to unblock Instagram and Facebook
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The Council of Bloggers under the Federation Council was asked to remove the block from the social networks Instagram and Facebook, which belong to Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation. In their opinion, restricting access to social networks carries risks for the whole country, since Russia “has lost an effective channel for forming a positive image”, and users have the opportunity to “create content aimed at defending the interests of the country.”
Bloggers sent letters to President Vladimir Putin and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Valeria Rytvina, coordinator of the council, confirmed. Mr Medvedev’s spokesman said Vedomostithat the letter has not yet been received.
The Council of Bloggers is an expert council under the Federation Council. It includes bloggers, statesmen, artists, representatives of the scientific community and others. Among them are the general director of the Great Moscow State Circus Edgard Zapashny, singer Mitya Fomin, prankster Alexei Stolyarov (Lexus), actress Anna Starshenbaum, rap artist Roman Chumakov (Roma Zhigan), musician Alexander Marshal, singer Olga Kormukhina, leader of the Gorky Park group Alexey Belov lawyers Valeria Rytvina, Victoria Rashina and others.
The Council of Bloggers believes that due to the blockade, Russia is daily losing ground in the information war during the military operation in Ukraine. “Unfortunately, domestic social networks do not have such popularity among Russian users, and even more so among foreign citizens. Therefore, even more than six months after the blocking, they did not become an equivalent and effective replacement for banned networks,” the letter says.
The authors of the appeal note that many continue to use social networks thanks to VPN services that “pose a threat to users’ personal data.” According to them, the developers of VPN services make money on the unfair trade in personal data, including browsing history and IP addresses.
According to a survey by the council of bloggers, 12.6 million Russians are unable to conduct business due to the ban on social networks. For some, services were the only source of income. The benefits of social networks for charity are also noted. So, in July-August, 10.8 million rubles were collected through Instagram. for school supplies and warm clothes for schoolchildren of Donbass. Bloggers believe that in the absence of restrictions, the amount of fees would be higher.
Social networks Meta Instagram and Facebook have been blocked in Russia since March at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The decision was made after Meta allowed users from Ukraine to call for violence against Russians in the context of hostilities. Russia has recognized Meta as an extremist organization. On October 11, the company was included in the list of Rosfinmonitoring extremists and terrorists.
About the consequences of being included in the list – in the material “Kommersant” “Extremists were added to the list of terrorists”.
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