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Facebook obeys U.S. sanctions. This rule was made abundantly clear after a Russian internet watchdog demanded an explanation for why Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's Facebook and France ArchivesInstagram accounts had been blocked.

The controversial leader said his accounts were blocked without an explanation on Saturday, according to The Guardian. The decision from Facebook, which owns Instagram, came after the U.S. imposed travel and financial sanctions against Kadyrov last week.

“We became aware and have now confirmed that the accounts appear to be maintained by or on behalf of parties who appear on the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals List and thus, subject to U.S. trade sanctions. For this reason, Facebook has a legal obligation to disable these accounts," a Facebook spokesperson wrote in an email to Mashable.

Facebook must comply with U.S. sanctions administered and enforced by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.S. Department of State.

This is "nothing new," according to the spokesperson, who declined to name other instances of this occurring.

Last week's sanctions on Kadryrov were a part of the Trump administration's enforcement of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. On Dec. 21, the U.S. government listed 51 targets viewable in this page on the U.S. Department of Treasury.

In response to his Facebook accounts shutting down, Kadyrov registered an account with Mylistory, Chechnya’s own social network. “Dear friends, I have created my personal account kadyrov_95 in Mylistory. From now on I will post all important news and photos there,” he said on his Telegram channel, according to Russia Today.

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