Chechen leader makes his infamous Instagram account private

Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic in the Caucasus, has changed his settings on Instagram to “private.” From now on, only those who are subscribed to the account can see the posts, and new followers must be approved by the administrator of the account. Those who were already following the account have retained their access to the posts.

• Ramzan Kadyrov is an avid social media user. He opened an Instagram account in 2013, which has attracted over one million followers and features over 5,000 photographs. The account details his daily life (mostly his athletic activities), contains criticism of “Russia’s enemies,” and provides political commentary on current events.
• In December 2014, Kadyrov urged people to stop using American social media networks and opened a page on the Russian social network VKontakte. Nonetheless, he continues to use Instagram, which belongs to Facebook.
• In May 2015, Kadyrov encouraged Chechens to ban women from using the messaging app WhatsApp.
• Kadyrov became head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, a region in the North Caucasus, in 2007 after his father, then-Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov, was assassinated.