Russia Blocks Facebook and Twitter

An anonymous reader quotes a report from BuzzFeed News: Facebook and Twitter on Friday were blocked in Russia, amid President Vladimir Putin's ongoing military invasion of Ukraine. In a statement issued on Friday, Roskomnadzor, the country's communications regulator, explained the decision was made to "block access to the Facebook network" after at least 26 cases of "discrimination against Russian media and information resources" since October 2020. The agency highlighted Facebook's recent restriction of Kremlin-tied media sources RT News and Sputnik News across the EU. Hours later, Russian news agency Interfax reported that Roskomnadzor had also begun blocking Twitter. "Soon millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out," Nick Clegg, president of global affairs for Facebook parent Meta, wrote on Twitter in response. "We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services so they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organize for action."

Yesterday, Russian state-controlled news network RT announced it would be "ceasing production" and laying off most of its staff after YouTube blocked its channels.