Russia could split off from the global internet in a bid to surveil their citizens more easily after the Kremlin banned Instagram.President Vladimir Putin has blocked access to some of the online platforms that have not yet halted service in Russia, as many have made decision to cut ties in the country following the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
The Instagram app was blocked last week. It has been installed 166 million times across the Russian App Store and Google Play since 2014, making it three times as popular as Facebook.After Russian censor Roskomnadzor announced that the government would restrict access to the app following a 48-hour “transition period,” head of Instagram Adam Mosseri condemned Russia’s actions, which will affect 80 million people in the country. "They want the ability to move to not one big global network but different networks where you can surveil your citizens more easily,” Karen Kornbluh, an expert on US-European diplomacy, told NBC News. “In the longer term, Russia wants to be able to cut off access to Signal."In 2019 Russia passed the Sovereign Internet Law which redirects traffic through Russian servers.
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