Facebook says it was penalized by Russia after refusing to halt fact-checkers
Moscow has also increased pressure on its domestic media, threatening to block reports that contain what it describes as ‘false information’ regarding its military operation in Ukraine
PremiumRussia-Ukraine crisis: A day after Russia invaded Ukraine, Moscow on Friday it was partially limiting access to Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook, accusing it of "censoring" Russian media. The latest measure is part of a series of steps against U.S. social media giants. Further, Moscow has increased pressure on domestic media, threatening to block reports that contain what it describes as "false information" regarding its military operation in Ukraine, where Russian missiles were pounding Kyiv and families cowered in shelters, according to Reuters report. The state communications regulator said Facebook had ignored its demands to lift restrictions on four Russian media outlets on its platform - RIA news agency, the Defence Ministry's Zvezda TV, and websites gazeta.ru and lenta.ru.
Facebook has said it was penalized after it refused to halt fact-checkers, AFP reported. Meta's head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said in a statement on Twitter, "yesterday, Russian authorities ordered us to stop the independent fact-checking and labelling 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, which has long been under pressure to combat misinformation, partners with outside fact-checkers, including Reuters, which assess some content for veracity. Meta says that content rated false, altered or partly false is shown to fewer users. Clegg said "ordinary Russians" were using Meta's apps -- which include Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, as well as Facebook -- to "express themselves and organize for action" and that the company wanted them to continue to do so.
Russia has been trying to exert tighter control over the internet and big tech for years, something critics say threatens individual and corporate freedom, and is part of a wider crackdown against outspoken opponents of the Kremlin.
U.S. Senator Mark Warner said in a letter to the chief executives of Facebook, YouTube and others that the companies have a duty to ensure their social media platforms are not misused by Russia and Russia-linked entities.
Each company has "a clear responsibility to ensure that your products are not used to facilitate human rights abuses, undermine humanitarian and emergency service responses, or advance harmful disinformation," Warner said.
Alphabet Inc's Google said it has removed hundreds of YouTube channels and thousands of videos over the last few days for violating its policies and was continuing to look for and disrupt disinformation campaigns and hacking. Google is also evaluating what any new sanctions and export controls could mean for the company, said spokeswoman Ivy Choi.
(With inputs from agencies)
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