Instagram announced on Tuesday that it would take steps to suppress Russian government propaganda and protect the privacy of users in Ukraine and across Russia. The company will begin downgrading posts from Russian state-affiliated media and placing any stories from those media outlets below content from other sources.
Users who go to share stories originating from any of these accounts will now see a pop-up message reminding them not to spread “Russian state-controlled media.”
“Instagram believes the account that created this post may be under editorial control in part or in full by the Russian government,” the message read.
The same will happen to users who share stories with stickers with links to areas related to Russian state media. Content from Russia’s state-linked accounts will also no longer appear in Instagram’s algorithm-filled discovery areas like Reels and Discover tabs, and Instagram says it won’t show up as easily in searches either.
Instagram is also adding a new privacy protection measure for some users located in Ukraine and Russia. Private accounts in these countries will now keep their follower and follower lists private, in addition to hiding their mutual friend lists and adding a layer of protection to mask real-life social connections.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, previously announced that it would offer encrypted DMs to all adult users in Ukraine and Russia and enable accounts in those countries to easily delete content and activity in bulk.