Meta vows to restore service in Russia after govt blocks Facebook in information crackdown

In a move to crackdown on critical voices amid the Russia Ukraine war, social networking site Facebook and multiple other media websites were made inaccessible by Russia on Friday. Following this, Facebook's parent company Meta responded to the Russian government and said that it will do "everything" it can to restore service across Russia. Meta, in a statement, said that millions of Russians will be cut off from reliable information as the social media site remain inaccessible.

Reacting to the blocking of Facebook throughout the country, Meta said that it will do "everything" to restore service. Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said that the company will work to restore its service and provide reliable information across Russia despite the government ban. He also said that the people of Russia were now being blocked from connecting and speaking out.

"Soon millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived from their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends 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," Clegg said in a statement released by Meta.

Earlier on Friday, Meta had released another statement claiming that it was taking several steps to fight misinformation through the application. “We’re fighting the spread of misinformation on our apps and putting more restrictions and transparency on state-controlled media outlets to help people know if what they see is coming from a publication that may be under the influence of a government,” it had said. It had also noted that the company was monitoring the situation in Ukraine and Russia as the war escalates and said that it would take action as needed.

Russia restricts independent media, social media sites amid war 

Amid the escalating war, Russia blocked social networking sites including Facebook on Friday, international reports said. Citizens in Moscow were not able to access Facebook, as well as the sites of media outlets Meduza, Deutsche Welle, RFE-RL and the BBC's Russian-language service. The monitoring NGO GlobalCheck also said the sites were partially down. Russian and English-language online newspaper, independent outlet Meduza, on its Telegram account informed that its site was no longer available to "some of its users" in Russia.

Since the Ukraine invasion began, Russia has stepped up pressure against independent media with the closure of its top independent radio station. A leading independent TV station also suspended its operations as authorities moved forcefully to stifle criticism of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Following Facebook’s blocking in Russia, reports also claimed that access to Twitter was being cut by Moscow. Meanwhile, on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation that punishes anyone releasing reports or publishing news that contradicts official statements relating to the Russia Ukraine war.

Image: AP/ UNSPLASH