Not sure if this is new but I just found out about it yesterday and find it very odd. Instagram is blocking alcohol related accounts in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia (and maybe other countries as well). If you try accessing accounts like @absolutvodka, @heineken or @jackdaniels_us you’ll be met with a message stating you can’t follow them in your region. I don’t understand the reasoning for this and if it’s Instagram or the brands themselves blocking access. It’s not like we can drink any alcohol by visiting those accounts. Plus the ministry doesn’t even ban alcohol related websites in Kuwait, you can visit Heineken.com now and it’s not blocked. Oddly enough @budweiser, @greygoose and @stoli are accessible on Instagram and so is @playboy. To add to the confusion, if you visit the blocked Instagram accounts from your browser they’re accessible.
via @ahmed
11 replies on “Instagram Blocking Alcohol Accounts in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia”
Are instagram ads active (to use) for users in Kuwait?
My guess is these brands are part of larger conglomerates that sell legal products in the region (soft drinks.. etc.) and they were asked by their local agents to do this so as not to jeopardize their business by associating it with booze.
The more they try to stop it the more it exacerbates the problem. They should let people be people and just allow it like the rest of the world (minus Saudi) and that way they can regulate it too.
minus Saudi & Kuwait
Several other countries as well
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_alcohol_prohibition
“You must be of legal age to follow”.
My guess, those accounts are part of the Instagram ad scheme so they are tailor made for the regions targeted.
*facepalm*
You don’t understand this. Large corporations HAVE to please advertisers but filtering porn/suggestive content or anything that might remotely sway users from the platform. It wasn’t a country/region’s request to implement such thing.
Don’t think that’s the case since with Instagram you can choose which countries you want your ads to show in.
Can you access them via a VPN using the browser platform for instagram? (i.e. instagram.com on your computer)
I don’t know, I find this kind of ridiculous.