Instagram loses almost half of Russian-speaking users

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The Russian segment of Instagram, which is banned in Russia, has lost about 48% of users since the start of the war in Ukraine, with the number of daily publications having dropped by 46%, a Brand Analytics report showed on Saturday.

The report pointed out that "The main figure for the current study period is a 48% drop in active Russian-speaking Instagram users since the start of the special operation until April 6, 2022."

It added that "As of March 24, according to the previous monitoring results, the decline was estimated at 31%."

The amount of daily content published in the Russian-speaking segment has also decreased by 46%, with the largest drop recorded in the period from March 14 to March 21 after the social network was banned in Russia, the report indicated.

Facebook - which is also banned in Russia - and YouTube have also reportedly seen a decrease in Russian-speaking users at 21% and 13%, respectively, within the same period.

Meanwhile, the amount of content creators in Russia's social network VKontakte has increased by 20%, with the content volume rising by 16%.

In addition, the number of Telegram users has increased by 23%, with the content volume rising by 7%, Brand Analytics added.

Earlier in March, a Moscow court banned Facebook and Instagram in Russia for extremism after Meta allowed publications calling for violence against Russian soldiers. The decision came into force immediately.