Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Meta Makes Encrypted Instagram DMs Available In Both Countries

Facebook parent Meta has announced rolling out encrypted Instagram DMs in Ukraine and Russia amid the ongoing crisis.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Meta Makes Encrypted Instagram DMs Available In Both Countries

New Delhi: After banning Russian accounts from running ads and monetising on the platform, Facebook parent Meta has announced rolling out encrypted Instagram DMs in Ukraine and Russia amid the ongoing crisis. The social networking giant is attempting to clamp down on Russian propaganda globally amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict by demoting all Russian state media across its platforms.

Meta Platforms is also making Russian state media harder to find. "We have also begun to demote posts with links to Russian state-controlled media websites on Facebook. In the days ahead, we will label these links so people who do see them will have context before clicking or sharing. We plan to take similar steps on Instagram as well," Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Security Policy at Meta, said in a statement.

"FB Pages/IG accounts: Over the past several days, we began demoting content from Facebook pages and Instagram accounts from Russian state-controlled media outlets, and we are making them harder to find across our platforms," Meta's head of security policy added.

The social networking giant had earlier mentioned that it was reviewing requests from other governments to bar access to Russian state-controlled accounts in their countries. According to Meta's head of global affairs Nick Clegg, the company has banned Russian state media from running ads or monetising on the platform anywhere in the world.

Apart from rolling out the Locked Profiles feature in crisis-hit Ukraine, Meta has also temporarily removed the ability to view and search the “Friends” list for Facebook accounts in Ukraine to help protect people from being targeted. The company also advises Facebook users outside Ukraine, who might have friends in the country, to help protect them by tightening their own visibility settings by following a few instructions.