Small businesses lament Russia Instagram ban

Russian small businesses have lost one of their most important trading platforms Instagram after the Kremlin blocked several Western social media giants.

A Moscow court banned Facebook and Instagram for what it deemed extremist activity in a case against their parent company, Meta. Russian prosecutors have accused the social media platforms of ignoring government requests to remove what they described as fake news in Russia and Ukraine. One Russian social media marketing specialist suggested that as yet, small businesses targeting young audiences weren't having any issues reaching customers. But every small business isn’t happy with using Vkontakte, the country's domestic social media site.