Russia just blocked access to Facebook. In the midst of the war in Ukraine, Moscow accuses the social network of curbing the freedom of expression of the Russian media. Vladimir Putin’s regime has also decided to restrict access to Twitter.
This Friday, March 4, 2022, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media of Russia (Roskomnadzor) ordered the complete blocking of Facebook. As the war in Ukraine continues, the authority has adopted several pieces of legislation aimed at sanctioning the social network in the event of the dissemination of “false information about the army”. A week earlier, the Russian regulator had already restricted access to Facebook in Russia.
Shortly after the announcement of the complete blocking of Facebook, the Russian authority attacked Twitter. Roskomnadzor decided to “restrict access” to the American social network at the request of the Russian Prosecutor’s Office. He is unable to load tweets without going through a VPN if you are in Russia.
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Russia accuses Facebook of censoring Russian media
Russia accuses Facebook of spreading false information about the war in Ukraine. The regulator also points the finger the blocking of several sites financed by the Kremlinsuch as the Zvezda TV channel, the RIA Novosti news agency, Sputnik, Russia Today, Lenta.ru and Gazeta.ru.
The Russian regime claims to have noticed “26 cases of discrimination against Russian media and information resources” since October 2020 on Facebook. To justify blocking Facebook on Russian territory, the regulator claims that the service violates “basic human freedoms and the rights and freedoms of citizens of the Russian Federation”.
For the record, Facebook, and most social networks, banned Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik from Europe earlier this week. The European Commission believes that the media are content to roll out the propaganda of Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Despite the restrictions decreed by Moscow, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is determined to impose other sanctions on Russian Internet users. Shortly after the announcement of the blockage, the Californian group cut all ads in Russia. Concretely, Facebook suspends advertisements that target Internet users located in the country and no longer allows advertisers in Russia to “create or run advertisements anywhere in the world, including in Russia”.
