Russia’s internet censor agency Roskomnadzor said on Friday it plans to block access to Facebook, cutting off a significant source of information about the Ukraine invasion as the conflict continues.
The agency announced the plans in a Telegram post, in which it called out parent company Meta for violating laws by blocking information to Russian media on its platform. The post did not specify whether this ban would affect the company’s other services, including Instagram and WhatsApp. Russia joins China and North Korea as governments that have banned Facebook.
In the translated post, the agency said there have been 26 cases of bans against Russian media and information resources from Facebook since October 2020. It said Facebook has restricted access to the Zvezda TV channel, the RIA Novosti news agency, Sputnik, Russia Today, Lenta.ru and Gazeta.ru.
“The above restrictions are prohibited by Federal Law No. 272-FZ ‘on measures of influence on persons involved in violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms, rights and freedoms of citizens of the Russian Federation’, adopted, among other things, to prevent violations of key principles free dissemination of information and unhindered access of Russian users to Russian media on foreign Internet platforms,” Roskomnadzor wrote on Telegram.
A Meta rep referred TheWrap to a statement on Twitter from the company’s president of global affairs Nick Clegg and declined to comment further.
The ban comes as restrictions on Russian operations and media increase following its invasion into Ukraine. Over the last week, tech players from Google and Twitter to Snap and TikTok have halted ad sales and banned state-backed news organizations from accessing their accounts on their platforms.
Google parent Alphabet on Thursday moved to suspend all online advertising sales in Russia, pausing search, YouTube and Display services. Twitter and Snap have also paused their ad sales in Russia and neighboring markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this week, Snap stopped sales to Russian and Belarusian entities and said the move will not impact its business as it continues to operate the app in those countries.
Roskomnadzor also previously posted that it sent Meta multiple letters demanding that it remove restrictions on Russian media. It called on the company to lift bans on RT, Sputnik and other state-owned media outlets in Russia.