In Moscow, justice has reached new frontiers: it is now illegal not only to use Instagram, but even to know how to get a blue checkmark. The Kuntsevsky District Court recently decided that instructions on connecting to Meta’s verification service are “criminogenic” and could “finance extremism.”
Let that sink in: a tiny digital badge, which elsewhere in the world signals verified identity, in Russia is equated with aiding and abetting terrorists. The prosecutor who pushed the case argued that publishing information about Meta Verified subscriptions amounts to undermining state security. The court nodded in agreement.
This is no longer about controlling a platform; it’s about controlling information itself. If knowledge is power, then in today’s Russia, knowledge has become contraband. Even curiosity—“how does one get a checkmark?”—is suspect.
The irony, of course, is glaring. The Kremlin has long feared Western tech giants, but banning the blue check is symbolic of a deeper paranoia: a state so nervous about its grip that even symbols of online legitimacy are recast as weapons. In this climate, freedom of speech is not just curtailed—it is being ridiculed.
What’s next? Will Moscow ban guides on how to download WhatsApp updates? Or criminalize the word “login”? In a country where social media is outlawed, the regime has now decided that even instructions are too dangerous.
The blue check once signified credibility. In Russia, it now signifies fear.
