Russian tech entrepreneurs have decided to develop a photo posting and sharing app for the domestic market to fill the gap created after the Russian authorities blocked Instagram.
The new app, known as Rossgram, will launch on March 28 and features additional functionality such as collaborative funding and paid access to content, according to the app's website.
Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor since Monday has blocked access to Instagram after US company Meta Platforms, which owns the app, announced last week that it would allow users of the social networking medium in Ukraine to upload messages such as "Death to Russian invaders".
Meta, which owns Facebook, said the current change to its hate speech policy only applied to Ukraine after Russia's invasion, arguing that it would be a mistake to prevent Ukrainians "from expressing their resistance and anger at the invading military forces."
Meta said Sunday that it was limiting its content moderation policy in Ukraine that bans calls for the death of a state leader.
Russia, which has banned access to Facebook, has launched a criminal investigation against Meta, while prosecutors have asked the judiciary to label the U.S. company an "extremist organization."
Russia has been developing its domestic technology in recent months, including the AYYA T1 smartphones produced by state-owned Rostec Group. In November, Gazprom Media launched Yappy as a domestic rival to video-sharing platform TikTok.
[/P]Source: APM
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