Roskomnadzor ordered on the 4th of March the blocking of Facebook throughout Russia and accused the social network of discriminating against Russian media. And the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta stops writing about the war in Ukraine because of censorship in Russia
Russia’s Internet regulator Roskomnadzor has ordered the blocking of Facebook throughout Russia and accused the social network of discriminating against Russian media, world agencies reported.
“It was decided to block access to Facebook from today,” he said in a statement to Roskomnadzor in the Telegram.
According to the regulator, there are 26 cases of discrimination against Russian media
by Facebook from October 2020 until now. Examples include Facebook’s limited access to Russian-backed television channels, such as RT, and the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Russia’s telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor has restricted access to Twitter, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has stopped writing about the war in Ukraine due to censorship in Russia. This was announced today by editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, one of the winners of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Reuters reported.
According to him, the material about Russia’s military actions in Ukraine will be downloaded from the newspaper’s website, but the publication will continue to report on the consequences of these actions, incl. the deepening economic crisis and the persecution of dissidents.
“Russia’s military censorship quickly entered a new phase:
from a threat to block and close publications (which is almost fully implemented) it has shifted to a threat of criminal prosecution against journalists and citizens who disseminate information about military actions other than the press releases of the Ministry of Defense, “the newspaper said in a statement. readers.
The text states that this threat “will undoubtedly be realized”.
It is pointed out that the newspaper will not risk the freedom of its team, but at the same time will not ignore the desire of readers to continue working, albeit under military censorship.
Earlier this week, Echo of Moscow radio and the Dozhd TV channel were shut down in Russia, Reuters reported.
And the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said today it would suspend all its journalists and support staff in Russia after a new law comes into force that would jail anyone who deliberately spreads “fake” news, Reuters reported.
Tim Davy, director general of the BBC, said in a statement that the law appeared to criminalize the process of independent journalism.
“It leaves us with no choice but to suspend all journalists at BBC News
and support staff in the Russian Federation as we assess the overall consequences of this undesirable development, “Davey said.
He said the BBC’s Russian program would continue to operate outside Russia.
The security of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to put them at risk of prosecution just because they are doing their job, Davey said.
Earlier yesterday, it became clear that Russia had cut off access to several foreign news organizations,
including the BBC and Deutsche Welle, for disseminating false information about the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Russia’s communications watchdog said today it had blocked the websites of the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Deutsche Welle and other media. TASS adds that the banned media also includes the Russian-language media Medusa, based in the Latvian capital Riga.
This week, the European Union banned state-controlled Russian media RT and Sputnik.
The owner of Facebook (Meta), Google (Alphabet), YouTube and TikTok are already blocking access to RT and Sputnik. Twitter also said it would comply with the EU ban.
