Russia has imposed a ban on the use of the social networking site Twitter on its territory
Facebook has criticized a ban on its platforms in Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
The Russian Communications Regulatory Authority said the ban came in response to restrictions imposed by the company’s online platforms on media in Russia.
The authority indicated that there have been 26 cases of “discrimination” by Facebook sites and applications once morest the Russian media since October 2020.
Reports said that restrictions were imposed on the use of the social networking site Twitter in Russia by the communications regulator “Roskomnadzer” on Friday evening.
“Soon millions of Russians will find themselves deprived of reliable sources of information,” said Nick Clegg, Facebook’s head of foreign affairs.
The social networking site has previously been subject to restrictions in Russia with other social media platforms, including Twitter.
Despite restrictions on the use of Facebook in Russia, the platform is not subject to a complete ban in the country.
And Russian media quoted the Communications Regulatory Authority as saying that Twitter was subject to restrictions according to a request from the Russian Prosecutor General issued on February 24, the date of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Twitter did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment on the reports.
picture released, Getty Images
Russia’s media supervisory body has announced that it has decided to slow down the speed of Twitter’s platform in the country due to “banned” posts.
Meta, which owns Facebook, said last week it had imposed restrictions on Russian-backed media across the European Union and reduced content published by pro-Russian media around the world.
The company also refused to stop fact-finding measures imposed on a large number of state-owned media outlets, including RT and Sputnik.
A statement issued by the Russian Communications Regulatory Authority said that “since October 2020, it has recorded 26 cases of ‘discrimination’ by Facebook once morest Russian media and information sources.”
“The ban on Facebook’s platforms was implemented to prevent violations of the fundamental principles of the free flow of information,” the statement added.
In response to the statement of the Russian authority, Meta said: “We will do everything in our power to restore our services so that they are available to people so that they can express themselves and organize themselves for any movement safely.”
The White House expressed its “deep concern” regarding the Russian decision to ban the US company’s websites and platforms, suggesting that this step came as part of “wider-scale efforts to obscure information.”
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: “This comes as part of their efforts to hide a certain amount of information from people,” expressing “the United States’ concern regarding the threat to freedom of expression.”
The Facebook ban came following the Russian parliament passed a new law this week that includes prison terms of up to 15 years as a punishment for spreading “false” news regarding the military internationally.
The BBC said it would suspend all its journalists and support its staff in Russia following the law was passed.
Other tech giants are facing pressure from their investors and platform users over their response to the crisis in Ukraine.
For example, Apple stopped selling all its products in Russia, and the American company imposed restrictions on Apple Pay and Apple Maps services. Apple also closed all of its retail outlets in the country.