Russia stops access to Facebook

Key takeaways: 

• Russia's media regulator told Friday it would thwart access to Meta-owned Facebook in the nation as it escalates stress on media platforms and tech media amid its attack on Ukraine.
• The previous week, the agency set partial limitations on Facebook for the likely breach of national law.
• Facebook earlier said it declined to yield with Russia's proposal to prevent labeling or fact-checking state-affiliated media.'

Facebook's access thwarted by Russia: 

Russia's media regulator said Friday it would obstruct access to Meta-owned Facebook as it escalates strain on media platforms and tech outlets amid its charge of Ukraine.

According to a translated version of a report, the regulator stated Facebook broke national regulation by limiting access to accounts of some state-affiliated media platforms. The move marks an escalation from earlier boundaries Russia set on Facebook.

The previous week, the agency put partial limitations on Facebook for the alleged infringement.

At the time, Meta's vice president of international affairs, Nick Clegg, said Russian officers had requested the medium to prevent fact-checking and labeling content published on Facebook by state-owned media like RT and Sputnik. Meta denied the appeal, he stated.

The regulator stated Friday it'd found 26 "cases of discrimination against Russian media and data resources by Facebook" since October 2020.

"Soon millions of common Russians will see themselves cut off from trustworthy information, robbed of their relaxed forms of connecting with family and friends and muted from speaking out," Clegg stated in a statement on Twitter in reaction to Friday's blocking. "We will persist in doing everything we can to fix our assistance, so they stay available to individuals to safely and securely express themselves and arrange for action."

Russia has escalated its crackdown on traditional and social media as its conflict with Ukraine persists.