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UKRAINE INVASION: RUSSIA RESTRICTS SOCIAL MEDIA ACCESS

By Joe Tidy & James Clayton
BBC News

Published2 days ago
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 * Russia-Ukraine war

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Facebook said it had refused to stop fact-checking and labelling content from
state-owned news organisations.

Russia has limited Twitter in parts of Russia, Twitter has confirmed.

In a statement, the company said "We're aware that Twitter is being restricted
for some people in Russia and are working to keep our services safe and
accessible".

On Friday Russia restricted Facebook after a clash over "censorship".

Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor accused Facebook of violating
"the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens".

Facebook said it had refused to stop fact-checking and labelling content from
state-owned news organisations.

Internet connectivity watchers at NetBlocks say there is a total or near-total
restriction on Twitter in Russia.



NetBlocks said Facebook and Instagram weren't "observably restricted per our
metrics, certainly not to the extent Twitter is at present".

The actions follow Russia's attack on Ukraine with many videos and images of the
invasion going viral on social media.

The BBC's Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg, said he'd had difficulty
tweeting.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet
on Twitter

Circumvention for those in Russia is currently possible using VPN services,
which can work around government-imposed restrictions.

NetBlocks Director Alp Toker told the BBC: "Russia's restriction of Twitter will
significantly limit the free flow of information at a time of crisis when the
public most need to stay informed."

Roskomnadzor has not announced actions against Twitter.



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Media caption,
Can a government switch off access to the web?

It is unclear what the Facebook restrictions could mean if implemented or if
other Meta-owned platforms - like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram -
will be hit.

The Russian regulator had demanded Facebook lift the restrictions it placed on
Thursday on state news agency RIA, state TV channel Zvezda, and pro-Kremlin news
sites Lenta.Ru and Gazeta.Ru.

It said that Meta had "ignored" these requests.

Sir Nick Clegg, vice-president of global affairs at Meta, said Russian
authorities "ordered us to stop the independent fact-checking and labelling" the
outlets' content.

"We refused," he said.

But he made clear he wanted Russians to continue to use Meta's platforms.



"Ordinary Russians are using our apps to express themselves and organise for
action", Sir Nick said, and the company wants "them to continue to make their
voices heard".

Many state-owned media outlets in Russia have painted a largely positive picture
of Russian military advances in Ukraine, calling the invasion a "special
military operation" that had been forced on Moscow.

On Thursday Meta said it had set up a "special operations centre" to monitor
content about the conflict in Ukraine.




RUSSIA ATTACKS UKRAINE: MORE COVERAGE

 * LIVE: Latest updates from on the ground
 * THE BASICS: Why is Putin invading Ukraine?
 * IN MAPS: Tracking Russia's invasion



Russia has its own Facebook equivalents, VK and Odnoklassniki, but Facebook is
also popular in the country - as is Meta-owned Instagram.

On Friday, US Senator Mark Warner said Facebook, YouTube and other social media
services had "a clear responsibility to ensure that your products are not used
to facilitate human rights abuses".

Meta has been under pressure to label misinformation - and has been working with
outside fact-checkers, including Reuters.

Moscow has also increased pressure on domestic media, threatening to block
reports that contain what it describes as "false information" regarding its
invasion of Ukraine.

Twitter also told the BBC that its safety and integrity teams were "disrupting
attempts to amplify false and misleading information and to advance the speed
and scale of our enforcement".


MORE ON THIS STORY

 * Nick Clegg gets bigger role at Facebook owner Meta
   
   16 February
   


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