Russia is about to launch an Instagram replacement application in the country-Information Technology

After Russian authorities blocked Instagram because of a policy change of parent company Meta, a Russian technology company has available an alternative application called Rossgram.

The new Instagram replacement in Russia, Rossgram, will be launched on March 28 and will add features like crowdfunding and paid content, according to the app’s official website.

Rossgram PR director Alexander Zobov said on the VKontakte social network: “My partner Kirill Filimonov and the application development team are ready for this development and do not miss the opportunity to create a version in Russia for social networking apps that are loved by Russians.”

According to the image shared on VKontakte, the interface and colors of Rossgram will be relatively similar to Instagram. Instagram’s parent company, Meta, did not respond to a request for comment on Rossgram’s design.

Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor has blocked Instagram in Russia since February 14, after Meta announced that it would allow Facebook and Instagram users in Ukraine and many other countries to post violent messages aimed at the Russian military – a moves contrary to content control policies on these platforms.

Meta said the change only took effect after Russia attacked Ukraine, and said it would be wrong to prevent Ukrainians from “expressing opposition and indignation towards the invading military force”. The group has since scaled back its change and no longer allows content that calls for violence against heads of state. The Russian government later called Meta an “extremist organization”.

In recent months, the Russian tech industry has stepped up the development of technology for domestic use. Russian state-owned enterprise Rostec produced smartphone AYYA T1 in the domestic market, while Gazprom Media launched a video-sharing app called Yappy in November 2021 to compete with TikTok in the country.