Russian Developers Release Instagram Clone App Called “Rossgram”

Russian tech entrepreneurs are set to launch an Instagram-clone app to help fill the void left by Instagram, which authorities blocked this week.

The new service, known as Rossgram, will launch on March 28 and will have additional features such as crowdfunding and paid access to certain content, its website said.

“My partner Kirill Filimonov and our group of developers were already ready for this turn of events and decided not to miss the opportunity to create a Russian analogue of a popular social network loved by our compatriots,” Alexander Zobov, director of public relations of the initiative, writes on the social network VKontakte.

Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor blocked access to Instagram from Monday after its US owner Meta Platforms said last week it would allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages such as “Death to the Russian invaders”.

Meta, which also owns Facebook, said the temporary change to its hate speech policy only applied to Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

He explained that it would be wrong to prevent Ukrainians “from expressing their resistance and fury against the invading military forces”.

Meta on Sunday said it was restricting its content moderation policy for Ukraine to ban calls for the death of a head of state.

Russia, which has already banned Facebook, has opened a criminal investigation against Meta and prosecutors have asked a court to designate the US tech giant as an “extremist organization”.

The case is due to appear in court on Monday.

According to a photo shared by Zobov on Vkontakte, Rossgram’s color scheme and layout will strongly resemble Instagram.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the design from Rossgram.

Russia officially banned Instagram from March 14, in response to Meta’s decision to allow Facebook and Instagram users in Ukraine to call for violence against Russian soldiers.

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said the decision to ban Instagram “will cut 80 million people in Russia off from each other.”

He tweeted: “This decision will cut off 80 million people in Russia from each other and the rest of the world, because around 80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country.” It’s wrong.’

The new service, known as Rossgram, will launch on March 28 and will have additional features such as crowdfunding and paid access to certain content, its website said.

The launch of Rossgram is likely to be welcomed by many Russian influencers, who are upset by news of Instagram being banned in Russia.

Russian reality TV star Olga Buzova, 36, has posted a video which shows her crying over the ban, as she tells her 23.3 million followers in a video of nearly seven minutes that she feels her life taken away from her.

“I’m not afraid to admit that I don’t want to lose you,” she said in Russian, according to the Insider.

“I don’t know what the future holds for us. I do not know. I just shared my life, my work and my soul. I didn’t do all this as a job for me, it’s a part of my soul. It feels like a big part of my heart and my life is taken away from me.

However, the inconsolable influencers have been criticized on social media for crying over the impending loss of their fans as thousands were killed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“My God, in Ukraine people are dying, children are in the metro, there is nowhere to sleep, they have lost everything and you are crying because of Instagram,” one user commented on the post. an influencer.