Ten days after the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the agency responsible for regulating communications in Russia announced on Friday the blocking of Facebook and Twitter, in response to what it described as restrictions preventing access to official media on the platforms. The Interfax agency reported that the Twitter ban was also a response to Western measures imposed on Russian media recently.
Discrimination and Access Restrictions
The communications agency added that there have been 26 discriminatory cases by Facebook against Russian media since October 2020, accompanied by measures to restrict access to state-supported channels. The restrictions were not limited to the two social media sites but also included other international news websites.
Reciprocal Response
The Russian decision came after Western countries imposed similar measures against government-affiliated and supportive media since the start of the Russian military operation days ago. Last week, Russian media platforms were removed from the App Store and Google Play in the United States, Britain, European Union countries, and Ukraine. Additionally, Moscow accuses social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter of imposing significant censorship on content that promotes its viewpoint.
In contrast, Nick Clegg, Meta’s international affairs officer, stated that the company will continue to do everything it can to restore services in Russia. He added in a statement posted on Twitter that millions of Russians would now find themselves isolated from reliable information, deprived of daily communication with their families and friends, and forbidden from speaking, according to him.
It is worth noting that the Russian operation has entered its ninth day on Ukrainian territory, shortly after the Kremlin recognized the independence of two breakaway regions in Eastern Ukraine, which led to international alert and a broad package of sanctions against Moscow. Several months prior, the Russian-Ukrainian border witnessed military mobilization and Russian troop buildup amid unprecedented tension with the West, driven by Russia's refusal of NATO's eastward expansion or Ukraine's inclusion, especially given that the tensions between Moscow and the Ukrainian capital have extended for years, particularly in 2014 when Russian forces took control of Crimea.
