From the 4th of March, Russia has been restricted in Russia, and at midnight from the 14th of March will be suspended access to the popular Instagram photo application.

Roskomnadzor provided users of 48 hours to save their publications and notifications of contacts.

Consider important issues of using these and other social platforms further.

1) What are the consequences for META services?

Access to Facebook, Instagram will be limited from Russia. The future of the Whatsapp messenger is still foggy, although this week was statements that it would not be affected, still need to follow the course of the trial against META and final documents.

In theory in case of recognition of META, the prohibited organization in Russia, the messenger as one of its structures cannot be considered separately from the rest.

The lawsuit over META in Russia may take several months, because Her lawyers have the opportunity to appeal, receive time to study the case, as well as some periods will be required for legal formalities.

If the case will be held as usual, and not in accelerated, then before making a final decision and its publication in the list of prohibited organizations can pass about 3 months. The probability of inclusion of META The list of prohibited organizations can be assessed as high in the context of hostile actions in the field of changing the policies of aggressive statements.

Before the official judicial decision of the consequence for ordinary users of personal accounts, in addition to preliminary access limitation, do not occur.

2) Can I get access to your account after blocking.

In Russia, access to prohibited resources is limited using TSPU devices installed on the equipment of mobile and stationary Internet providers. With the usual connection, it will not be easy to connect, or there will be very slow load, especially pictures and videos if the appropriate provider has not yet fully executed restrictions on which it takes some time.

You can access your account via a VPN connection, for example, if you did not have time to save your data and photos in Instagram.

In Instagram security settings, you can order a full copy of your account that Instagram will send in the archive to the specified e-mail. Link to download is valid 4 days.

If you are using a VPN connection, you must remember the arising risks. First, some similar programs may contain malicious code.

Secondly, loading, for example, video in YouTube via VPN or access to the account in the Steam game store via VPN can lead to an account blocking from the foreign network for distorting information about the location region.

Mobile Internet When accessing a resource also transmits some geolocation data when connected to the site (if this option has not been limited in the phone settings), so when using a free VPN on a stationary computer, a foreign network will see your connections from the uncharitable location account, which can lead to blocking Account.

In the case of META, only after the final judgment, official documents, the availability of law enforcement practices can be said whether the responsibility comes for the owners and users of accounts in social networks of a prohibited company.

Excluding this option is now impossible, because So far there is no practice of executing such a law for a commercial company providing services to consumers and recognized in Russia forbidden.

Perhaps after the whole process, even from the availability of installed applications, the company will have to abandon.

However, it is already necessary to refrain from any publications on political topics on Facebook, Instagram, because It may be equal to supporting the prohibited organization.

3) Will it be possible to purchase premium subscriptions, use Facebook, Instagram advertising.

All financial relations with these services is better to stop now.

After the final court decision, any payments towards services prohibited in Russia organizations may lead to liability for violation of the law and support for prohibited organizations.

It is worth bringing out balances in advertising offices, suspend advertising campaigns, limit subscriptions in the above services, and not to use any payable services in the WhatsApp messenger.

4) Do you need to delete your accounts on Facebook, Instagram.

In this case, after the recognition of the organization forbidden, the law does not have the inverse force, especially if you even have decided not to lead more account.

However, to completely exclude any risks if you choose this option, it is possible to do this.

Return subscribers to your account when it is finally removed by the social network, it will not be possible. Also, social networks complicate their algorithms in terms of attracting subscribers, so the new account will be much more difficult to collect the audience.

In different networks, there are conditions for the inactivity of the account. Instagram, for example, does not formally specify the term of permissible inactivity, but you can find user messages whose accounts have been deactivated after 30 days in the absence of entry, but have been removed by the network another 10-15 days after this period.

5) Is it possible to own META shares.

Again, various comments this week said that minority shareholders were not involved in the company's activities, and will not be held responsible.

However, there is no law enforcement practice on this issue, and to exclude risks it is not worth owning such shares, acquire them in the foreseeable future.

6) What other restrictions will arise in the event of the prohibition of META in Russia.

It is impossible to publish logos, links to the services of this company, and the App Store and Google Play stores may ask to restrict access to Facebook applications, Instagram.

It is possible that at some point, in the absence of mandatory updates, the application will stop starting at all.

If you have a website, it is necessary to delete the Facebook, Instagram button from there, "Share" the publication command to these services from the pages of the site. You also look at your social networks so that links to these foreign resources are not left anywhere in descriptions.

7) What foreign social networks can still be used.

In Russia, although temporarily and without monetization continues to work video hosting YouTube. After removing these weeks of the channels of state-owned media, the possibility of blocking YouTube in Russia increased, it is impossible to exclude it.

At the same time, Youtube also applies inactivity rules. In the absence of login for 6 months, the account can be recognized inactive. Also can block empty accounts that did not load the video, while not watched and did not comment on other videos.

Here there is an important difference - blocking access to the resource, as is done now, for example, to twitter. And the recognition of the organization forbidden, as can happen to META, where much more dangers and risks in case of continuing to use its resources.

Tiktok in Russia disabled the possibility of downloading new content and holding streams, although left the message exchange previously downloaded content.

Google completely disabled AdSense monetization for views from Russia. The advertising blocks of this system on Russian sites will not be shown. If you have worked with these ads, you will have to shut up empty spaces on sites.

Continue without a threat to the restrictions to act a social network Likee for short video content, Japanese Messenger Viber, video hosting Vimeo, where however, the maximum amount of free video storage on the account is limited.

8) can in the future remove restrictions from Facebook, Instagram.

Such probability is, especially if representatives of the company, they own, will demonstrate a conscious position and respond to everything that initially led to restrictions on access to them.

At the moment, it can be assumed that foreign social networks experience a large pressure of foreign governments in their actions in relation to the Russian market. So that companies have changed their actions, it will be necessary that such pressure on them does not turn out.

According to analysts, Meta may lose $ 1.7 billion due to ban on working in Russia. This is 1.5% of the annual income of the company or $ 4.7 million. US loss. Whatsapp in Russia is about 80 million people, Instagram - 63 million, Facebook had 70 million regulations, but now there are much fewer active users from Russia.

On the other hand, recently the US government has dragged Facebook on ships for violations of confidentiality rules, not always understandable censorship rules, monopolism. There were even calls forcibly divided by the company. The latest actions of Facebook and other American social networks in relation to Russia look very strange, and one cannot exclude that the company went on them to somehow in exchange to agree on improving its future in the native market.

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