Several Russian influencers were moved to tears over the weekend after their country decided to ban Instagram, lamenting that their lives and livelihoods are being taken from them.
The Kremlin officially blocked use of the popular social media platform on Monday to restrict the flow of negative information surrounding its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
What are the details?
Business Insider reported that Russian reality TV star Olga Buzova who boasts 23 million followers on the platform, posted a nearly seven-minute video to fans crying over her new reality.
"I am not afraid of admitting that I do not want to lose you," the 36-year-old reportedly said in Russian.
"I do not know what the future holds. I don't know," she continued. "I just shared my life, my work, and my soul. I did not do this all as a job for me, this is a part of my soul. It feels like a big part of my heart, and my life is being taken away from me."
Buzova ended her video by saying she was "going to go and continue crying."
Another influencer, reportedly a Russian beauty blogger, posted a message to fans in which she broke down in tears over the loss of her lifestyle, saying she is in the "first stage of grief."
"Do you think that for me, as an Instagram influencer, this is [a] source of income?" she asked, according to video posted on Twitter by NEXTA.
"To me, it’s all life, it’s the soul. It’s the one with which I wake up, fall asleep, f**king five years in a row," she said.
Other influencers, including Valeria Chekalina and Karina Nigay, also lamented their country's Instagram blackout while urging followers to join them on Telegram or Russian state-controlled social platform VK.
"Instagram is no more," Chekalina said, Insider reported.
"This is my work," Nigay said in a live video, according to the Washington Post. "Imagine you were just fired completely from work and you aren’t receiving any income at all, but at the same time you have expenses for your family, for your team if you have subordinates, and then all of a sudden you have nothing to pay your team."
What was the response?
While the tearful influencers received pity from some of their Russian followers, several critics on social media slammed the privileged stars over their insensitivity.
"In Ukraine, people are dying, children are in the subway, there is nowhere to sleep, they have lost everything, and you are crying because of Instagram," one person reportedly commented in response to Buzova's post.
"Wow, those are some problems you have," another commenter wrote after Nigay’s video.
"I’m shocked, we have air sirens on here," another follower said.
In the caption of its Twitter post, NEXTA alleged, "[The influencer] does not care at all about the thousands of dead people, including her compatriots. Obviously, her biggest worry right now is that she won’t be able to post pictures of food from restaurant."
That influencer's comments came as the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol entered its 13th day without food, water, and electricity, the Daily Mail noted.
Anything else?
Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, announced on Friday that it would ban Instagram, giving users 48 hours to say goodbye to the app.
In announcing the ban, the regulator cited parent company Meta's decision to allow posts calling for violence against Russian invaders in Ukraine.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri decried the ban, saying in response that it would "cut 80 million [people] in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world."
Post a Comment