The Twitter ban comes as Russia’s communications regulator announced the blocking of Meta Platforms’ Facebook site in response to what it said were restrictions on access to Russian media on its platform.
The authority added that there have been 26 cases of Facebook discrimination against Russian media since October 2020, with access restricted to state-backed channels such as Russia Today and the Russian Information Agency.
Russia’s move to completely ban Facebook comes, while the authorities had imposed “partial” restrictions on access to the platform.
Russia accuses social media platforms such as “Facebook” and “Twitter” of imposing tight censorship on content that promotes the Russian point of view or anti-Western ideas.
In late February, Twitter said that it had imposed restrictions on the entry of some people in Russia to its social networking platform, stressing that it was seeking to keep the site safe and available.
platform wars
On Friday, NetBlocks, a body that monitors internet governance, said Russian authorities had restricted social network users’ access to Facebook and Twitter.
The restrictions were not limited to the two leading social networking sites, but also included news sites such as the BBC, the German “Deutsche Welle” and the Latvian-based “Medusa” platform.
Before confirming the ban, on Friday evening, the source stated that access to these media platforms is almost completely restricted, or not available at all in some cases.
In the same direction, Western countries have imposed measures against media outlets that say they are affiliated with and loyal to the Russian state, such as “RT” and “Sputnik”.
Since the 27th of last February, media platforms said to be affiliated with Moscow have been removed from the App Store and Google Play in the United States, Britain, European Union countries and Ukraine.