Chechen lawmakers decided to quit Instagram after the social network blocked the account of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, Vesti.ru reported.
Shortly after Kadyrov’s account was blocked, Chechen Parliament Speaker Magomed Daudov followed his suit and deleted his account, saying that he would not use Instagram until Kadyrov’s account was unblocked. Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Chechen Parliament’s press office as saying that the entire Parliament of Chechnya consisting of 41 lawmakers upheld Daudov’s initiative and quit Instagram.
Kadyrov’s Instagram account was suspended on Saturday morning. His Facebook page has been blocked as well.
The Chechen leader said that his Instagram account was blocked after the U.S. Department of the Treasury added him to the blacklist and imposed sanctions against him as part of the Magnitsky Act. According to Kadyrov, such moves point at pseudo-independence of social networks from official Washington.
Magnitsky Act
The United States adopted the Magnitsky Act at the end of 2012, determining those persons, who are responsible for the detention, abuse or death of Sergei Magnitsky, financially benefited from the detention, abuse or death of Sergei Magnitsky, or were involved in the criminal conspiracy uncovered by Magnitsky. The sanctions are also imposed on those persons, who are responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation; or to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms.
