People on Facebook aren’t happy about a ban on their sites in Russia because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
People in Russia’s communications regulator said the ban was a response to rules that made it hard for its media to cover things there.
It said there had been 26 cases of “discrimination” against Russian media by Facebook since October 2020, and that there had been a lot of them.
There were also reports that the Russian regulator, Roskomnadzor, had stopped people from using Twitter on Friday night.
People in Russia will soon be cut off from reliable information because of Facebook’s global head of global affairs, Nick Clegg.
Facebook and other social media platforms were once banned in the country.
However, Facebook had not been completely blocked in the country, so it was still possible to use it there.
On Friday, Russian media said that Twitter had been blocked because of a request from the prosecutor general on February 24, the day that Ukraine was taken over.
Twitter didn’t answer the BBC’s question right away about the reports. That’s what Meta said last week: It had limited Russian-backed media outlets in the European Union and was downgrading content from state-owned media around the world.
RT and Sputnik were also fact-checked by the fact-checking service. It had also refused to stop.
“Since October 2020, 26 cases of Facebook discriminating against Russian media and information resources have been recorded,” said a statement from the Russian media regulator.
The statement says that the block on Facebook platforms was put in place “to protect the free flow of information.”
When Meta heard this, they said, “We will do everything we can to get our services back up and running so that people can safely and securely express their opinions and organize for action.”
We’re very worried about Russia’s decision to block our company, and we think this is part of a bigger plan to “choke off information,” the White House said.
US spokesperson Jen Psaki: “This is part of their effort to cut off a wide range of information from their public.” She added that the US was also concerned about the threat to freedom of speech in the country.
Ban: Russia’s Parliament passed a law this week that says anyone who intentionally makes “fake” news about the military can be jailed for up to 15 years. This comes after the law was passed.
The BBC also said that it would stop working in Russia for a short time after the law was passed.
People who invest in technology and social media companies have asked them to do something about the crisis in Ukraine. They have also asked them to do something.
If you want to buy Apple products, for example, you can no longer buy them in Russia. You can also no longer use services like Apple Pay and Apple Maps. Its stores across the country have also closed.