The State Duma allowed the unblocking of Instagram in Russia if the social network apologizes to the Russians

Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, said that the Instagram social network (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation) can be unblocked in Russia if it formally apologizes to Russian citizens and changes its policy.

“Firstly, this social network must change its policy, they must block any calls to kill our citizens, my fellow citizens. Secondly, they must apologize to the Russian citizens,” Mr. Gorelkin said in Telegram channel “Dialog”. According to him, an official apology for the aggression against the inhabitants of Russia will be “quite enough.” In this case, according to the deputy, there will be an opportunity for constructive interaction with the Russian regulator.

In March, the activities of the social networks Instagram and Facebook, owned by Meta, were recognized as extremist and banned in Russia. Facebook was blocked on March 4, Instagram was blocked on March 14. The lawsuit to block these social platforms was sent by the Prosecutor General’s Office. This was a retaliatory step after Meta’s decision to temporarily lift the ban on posting publications calling for violence against Russian citizens. A Meta spokesperson later stated that calls for violence were only allowed against the military, not Russian citizens.

Lusine Balasyan