Communications regulators in Russia have banned Facebook and Twitter due to “discrimination against Russian media and information resources.”
Russia have blocked access to vital sources of information by banning Facebook and Twitter in the country.
Amid the Ukrainian invasion, Facebook placed restrictions on information from Kremlin-tied media sources, limiting access to articles posted by state-owned publications.
“Earlier this week, we announced that we’d be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU. Consistent with that action, and after a request from the UK government, we will also be restricting access to RT and Sputnik in the UK at this time,” said a spokesperson for Meta.
The decision spurred Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, to block the social media platform altogether.
Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, took to Twitter to address the ban, warning, “Soon millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out.”
“We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services so they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organize for action,” he continued.
Just hours after that tweet, Russian news publication Interfax reported that Roskomnadzor had begun closing off access to Twitter as well.
The bans are believed to be part of the Russian government’s scheme to control the spread of information about the conflict with Ukraine, by stamping out independent news sources.
Just as importantly, the rest of the world could lose access to inside knowledge from Russian residents posting to social media.
