Ukraine requests to restrict Russian State Media accounts at Meta Platform 

Meta Platforms Inc has restricted some accounts in Ukraine, including some accounts belonging to Russian state media organizations. Meta did this at the request of the Ukrainian government, the company’s head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, to provide a sense of safety among the citizens of Ukraine. He said in a tweet on Feb 27, Sunday. 

 Nick Clegg took to Twitter to share, “the Ukrainians have also suggested that we remove access to Facebook and Instagram in Russia. However, people in Russia use FB and IG to protest and organize against the war and as a source of independent information.”  

He said the Russian government was already throttling Meta’s platform to prevent these activities and that turning off its services would “silence important expression at a crucial time.” 

Meta said that it has been in contact with the government of Ukraine. At their request, it has restricted access to several accounts in Ukraine, including those belonging to some Russian state media organizations. Meta is also reviewing other government requests to restrict Russian state-controlled media. 

Meta added several safety features in Ukraine  

Meta said it is taking extensive steps to spread the wrong information by expanding our Russian and Ukrainian third-party fact-checking capacity. It also provides more transparency around state-controlled media outlets, prohibiting ads from Russian state media and demonetizing their accounts. Meta further announced that they added several safety features in Ukraine, including the ability to lock their Facebook profile, removing the ability to view and search friends lists, and additional tools on Messenger.   

Meta Platforms Inc has restricted some accounts in Ukraine, including some accounts belonging to Russian state media organizations, at the request of the Ukrainian government, the company’s head of global affairs Nick Clegg said in a tweet on Sunday.  

“The Ukrainians have also suggested that we remove access to Facebook and Instagram in Russia. However, people in Russia use FB and IG to protest and organize against the war and as a source of independent information,” Clegg said in another tweet. 

The Russian government was already throttling Meta’s platform to prevent these activities 

He said the Russian government was already throttling Meta’s platform to prevent these activities and that turning off its services would “silence important expression at a crucial time.” 

Meta Platforms Inc has restricted some accounts in Ukraine, including some accounts belonging to Russian state media organizations, at the request of the Ukrainian government, the company’s head of global affairs Nick Clegg said in a tweet on Sunday. 

“The Ukrainians have also suggested that we remove access to Facebook and Instagram in Russia. However, people in Russia use FB and IG to protest and organize against the war and as a source of independent information,” Clegg said in another tweet. 

He said the Russian government was already throttling Meta’s platform to prevent these activities and that turning off its services would “silence important expression at a crucial time.”  

Meta took its most significant action against the Russian state media organizations.   

At the behest of the country’s government, Meta took action against the state media of Russian organizations amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. On 27.02.2022, Sunday, Nick Clegg, the company’s Global Affairs president, said that Meta is restricting some Russian accounts within the war-torn nation. 

Clegg noted Ukraine also asked Meta to limit Russia’s access to Facebook and Instagram. The company denied that request, for the time being, claiming people in the country have used its platforms to organize anti-war protests and access independent information. “We believe turning off our services would silence important expressions at a crucial time,” he said.

A telecom regulator in Russia threatened to throttle and restrict access to Facebook.  

Russia’s Roskomnadzor telecom regulator threatened to throttle and restrict access to Facebook.  

This most recent move comes after Meta blocked Russian state media outlets from accessing its advertising platform or using other monetization features. Russia’s Roskomnadzor telecom regulator threatened to throttle and restrict access to Facebook after company officials declined to stop fact-checking state-backed media organizations on the platform.

On 27.02.2022, Sunday, Clegg said that the company would continue to label and fact-check content from those outlets. He also confirmed, following reports from internet monitoring organization NetBlocks, that the Russian government had started restricting access to its social networks. 

Published by- Aashay Bhujbal

Edited by- Kritika Kashyap