Avito suspended the account of a St. Petersburg resident who had started using the service as a messenger amid the shutdown. Rotonda reported this.
The woman posted an ad on Avito titled “Strict cat for friends” so she could correspond there with friends during mobile internet blockages, since the service is included in the so-called “whitelists.”
“My friends have a link to this ad. When the internet works only through whitelists, we chat through it — like I’m doing with you now,” the woman explained to Rotonda.
After media outlets drew attention to the post, Avito removed the ad and sent the woman’s account for review. The marketplace’s press service said the ad violated platform rules because it did not contain an offer “for the sale of a product or service.”
Earlier, users on social media said that during the blockages they had begun using alternative platforms while trying to avoid platforms controlled by the authorities. As VC.ru writes, Russians — partly joking, partly seriously — started communicating through Excel channels, shared notes, chats in Photos on iOS and Google Photos on Android, a chess app, and even automatic pet feeders.