Facebook has cut off Russian access to Facebook following claims that the service is fact-checking state-run media and limiting access to its platforms for these same organizations.
This is apparently against Russian law although all of this is seemingly in reaction to Facebook’s limiting access to these organizations outside of Russia. So, it’s a kind of chicken or the egg type of situation but what is certain is that Facebook users are cut off and other outlets are experiencing somewhat limited functioning.
Former British MP and now Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said of the move: “Soon, millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and silenced from speaking out… We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services so they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organize for action.”
Services like Instagram and WhatsApp, also part of Meta’s corporate family, aren’t blocked as of this writing.
One reason why blocking such access is important is the sheer amount of information people and news agencies around the globe glean from social media posts. Without access to this pipeline, the world is cut off from receiving information about what is going on within a country domestically. Obviously, the people within Russia are being cut off from contrary sources of information available through Facebook as well. Whether this is temporary or a more long-term situation probably depends in large part on how events unfold in Ukraine. We’ll keep you updated as things progress.
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