The Russian government has announced that it would implement a “partial restriction” of access to Facebook.
Russia has said it is partially restricting access to Facebook within its borders after the social network limited the accounts of several Kremlin-backed media outlets over the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia claimed that it would implement the measures, which were not specified after Facebook put its own restrictions on four Russian state-linked media outlets, the television network Zvezda, news agency RIA Novosti, and the websites Lenta.ru and Gazeta.ru.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator, wrote: “On February 24, Roskomnadzor sent requests to the administration of Meta Platforms, Inc. to remove the restrictions imposed by the social network Facebook on Russian media and explain the reason for their introduction”, adding that Facebook “ignored” its requests.
In an official statement cited by The Las Vegas Sun, Roskomnadzor said its restrictions came as “measures to protect Russian media”, and that Russia’s Foreign Ministry and the Prosecutor General’s office found Facebook “complicit in the violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, as well as the rights and freedoms of Russian nationals”.point 434 | 1
Nick Clegg, Meta Global Affairs VP, elaborated on the situation on Twitter, indicating that the Russian request came in response to either Facebook’s fact-checking practices or its policy of labeling state-run media accounts. Clegg penned: “Ordinary Russians are using @Meta’s apps to express themselves and organize for action”.
Clegg said Facebook had refused to submit to Russian government demands not to label Russian state media and encouraged Russians to continue using the tech giant’s apps for organization.
Facebook and other social media have been organizing platforms for Russians who have taken to the streets over their opposition to the invasion of Ukraine, which has already resulted in hundreds of casualties.
Clegg said: “Yesterday, Russian authorities ordered us to stop the independent fact-checking and labeling of content posted to Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organizations. We refused. As a result, they have announced they will be restricting the use of our services.”
Meta has partnered with third-party fact-checkers such as Reuters to label and rate content for veracity. Content rated false, altered, or partly false is shown to fewer users.
It comes as Moscow increased pressure on domestic media, threatening that reports containing what it describes as “false information” regarding its military operation in Ukraine would be blocked.
The announcement comes as Ukraine fends off an unprovoked attack by Russian forces under the command of President Vladimir Putin, who is justifying the assault with unproven claims of genocide in Ukraine. At least 137 Ukrainians were deceased as of early Friday morning, and one official said Friday would be the “hardest day.”
According to Politico, a handful of Russia-backed media outlets have posted stories on Facebook and Twitter containing false claims that Ukrainian military forces were the ones who launched unprovoked assaults on Russian-allied troops.
Ret. Lt. Col Robert Lee Maginnis, a military analyst, said the blocking of social media in Russia was part of a totalitarian fear of freedom of speech. The Russian government has cracked down on the protests that have erupted across the enormous country, arresting thousands.
In the U.S., there’s some support for the idea that tech platforms like Facebook should take more strident action to limit the spread of Russian disinformation. A widely shared blog post published has compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hitler, encouraging platforms to “choose sides” and crackdown on the vast network of Russian propaganda accounts that spread disinformation online.
Joining Facebook in taking steps against the issues is Twitter, which said its safety and integrity teams are watching for risks associated with conflicts in Ukraine, and TikTok, which is working to remove content that promotes violence or harmful misinformation.
Social media platforms once again face pressure to moderate misinformation quickly during a historic world event. Google’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and others have been pressured to pour more resources into handling false information related to the pandemic, the 2020 presidential election, and political disinformation more broadly.