April 22: Popular social media platform Instagram is now inaccessible for the vast majority of Russia’s population, fueling the demand for instagram-proxies that ensures privacy on the internet.
Kremlin continues to isolate Russians from outside digital world
In response to Meta’s move to institute a
institute a temporary change in policy amid the “ongoing conflict, which effectively allows users of Facebook and Instagram to post violent speech against Russian soldiers or politicians, the Russian government announced that it would ban as many as 80 million citizens from accessing the popular social media platform.
The ban
ban went into effect on March 14, a move that Instagram chief Adam Mosseri denounced. In a tweet, Mosseri said: “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. This is wrong.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">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. This is wrong.</p>— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) <a href="https://twitter.com/mosseri/status/1502431327093604352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The ban on Instagram is the latest move from the Russian government, which has been steadily imposing online censorship as it continues to invade Ukraine. In February,
Moscow authorities started requiring tech giants including Google, Meta, Apple, Twitter, and TikTok to set up legal entities in the country, potentially resulting in the companies and their staff more susceptible to Russia’s legal attacks.
Since the announcement in February, 200 websites have already been banned while an estimated 300 multinational companies have packed up and left the country, according to a New York Times
report.Demand for proxy services rise as Russia moves into digital isolation
Many users in Russia have turned to proxy services and other online privacy tools as effective workaround the ongoing online censorship. Even Russian influencers on Instagram have also been encouraging their followers to download VPN software in order
to access the social media platforms.Currently, an estimated 30 percent of internet users in the country already use proxy services to bypass online censorship. In fact, data private residential proxies are constantly in demand because web servers “trust” them and are therefore less likely to block or ban the IP in question, according
ENV Media report on internet privacy. The media company, which is engaged in lead generation and performance marketing in the iGaming industry, has
teamed up with anyIP,, a veteran player in the online privacy business with 15 years of experience delivering fast rotating proxies in the industry.
Protecting one’s online privacy, especially in countries with strong online censorship like Russia, is becoming an important consideration for many internet users today. These days, no one is really sure who ends up with their information—and nobody wants the government to have their eyes on them as they go about their day. This is why proxies and online anonymity tools are becoming the go-to instruments for secure internet access.
“Proxy server connections have clearly and firmly surpassed the limited image of a privacy protection solution. They offer much more to those who are well-informed and able to use them to their full potential,” ENV Media analysts said.