In the midst of the war with Ukraine, the government of russia announced this Friday that it will block the access of its citizens to Facebook due to the restrictions that the social network imposed on official media profiles.
This is in addition to the computer restrictions imposed by the Kremlin to stop the spread of what they consider “Fake News” and disinformation. Earlier, parliament passed legislation that punishes those who spread false news “internationally” about its army with 15 years in prison.
As a result, Facebook will go from being partially limited in some regions of Russia to being completely restricted throughout the country.
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The Russian media regulator argued that, since 2020, it registered 26 cases of alleged “discrimination” towards information disseminated by media. officers on Facebook.
facebook stance
Nick Clegg, president of Global Affairs at Facebook, confirmed that “soon millions of Russians will be deprived of reliable information.”
Meta reported since last week on the blocking of media outlets backed by the Russian government throughout the European Union, where they are censored.
Two of those affected by the measures are Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, which denied false news spread by major European media outlets. However, the company that owns Facebook implemented a policy of verifying the facts spread by these Russian media.
“We continue to do everything we can to restore our services, to keep them available and for people to safely express themselves and organize for action,” Clegg added.
It is worth mentioning that the other Meta platforms, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, continue to function normally in the country governed by Vladimir Putin.
In this regard, the United States government claimed to be “deeply dismayed” at the Russian decision.
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“This is part of their effort to cut off information from the public,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
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