The court has banned websites that sold “blue ticks” on Instagram.

The Kuntsevsky District Court in Moscow ruled extremist information about the sale of account verifications on Instagram and blocked access to the websites of the RosMedia and Aur services, Verstka reports.

The Kuntsevsky Interdistrict Prosecutor found websites offering paid services to “get a blue tick” on Instagram, identified signs of extremism funding, and took the case to court.

Instagram is owned by Meta, which in March 2022 the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow classified as an “extremist organisation.” To obtain verification, users are required to pay for a Meta Verified subscription, but the banned websites offered “full support until you get the tick.” RosMedia charged around 300,000 rubles (approximately US$3,400), while the official subscription starts at US$14.99 per month.

According to its website, RosMedia is owned by blogger Svyatoslav Gusev. Among the company’s clients are actor Yevgeny Kulik, musician Kirill Nechayev, and model Oksana Samoylova. Aura is registered in Kyrgyzstan and presents itself as a full-cycle digital agency.