Among
Meta Platforms, the messenger WhatsApp had the largest audience in Russia, with nearly 84 million monthly users in January 2022. Instagram was used by 67 million Russians in that month. A lower user count was recorded for Facebook, to which consumers preferred domestic social networks like VK (Vkontakte) and Ok.ru (Odnoklassniki).
Russia was the third-largest market of WhatsApp by number of users in 2020, following only India and Brazil. Furthermore,
it was the most popular messenger app in the country, with nearly twice as many monthly users as those of Telegram.
Facebook and Twitter ban in Russia in 2022
In response to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine that started in February 2022, Meta blocked Facebook pages of Russian state-owned media RT and Sputnik in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK). On March 4, 2022, The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) banned Facebook for discriminating against Russian media. It also blocked
Twitter, demanding that the platform removed false information about the military attack.
Instagram ban in Russia in 2022
On March 10, 2022, Reuters reported that Meta permitted Facebook and Instagram posts in several countries that contained violent speech toward Russian soldiers in relation to the war, which would otherwise be prohibited under the company's hate speech policy. On the following day, the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia considered that propaganda of terrorism and requested to designate Meta as an extremist organization and ban its activity in the country. Meta's global affairs chief Nick Clegg stated on March 11, 2022, that the policy changes would only apply in Ukraine. Roskomnadzor banned Instagram access in Russia on March 14, 2022.