 |
| Russia condemns Facebook for blocking some media coverage |
Russia on Monday accused Facebook of undermining citizens' rights by blocking some media content during the recent confrontation between the government and tech giants.
Communications director Roskomnadzor threatened Facebook over the weekend with a fine of at least 1 million rubles ($ 13,433) and called for restoring access to TASS, RBK and Vzglyad content.
Russian Communications Watchdog said: Facebook has arrested posts related to Russia's detention of alleged supporters of a Ukrainian far-right organization, and we call for the ban on links to be lifted. An article on his platform.
Facebook banned Russia's news agency from publishing articles claiming that police arrested suspected Ukrainian nationalists last month after experts concluded that the extremists were Russian.
An article published in February reported that Russian authorities had arrested suspected members of the National Youth Organization of Ukraine (MKU) in the southwestern city of Voronezh.
Ukrainian agency StopFake worked with Facebook to find false information about Russia on the platform. The agency's investigation revealed that the three people arrested in Voronezh belong to the Russian State Organization.
Speaker of the Russian Parliament and a member of Putin's United Russia party, Vyacheslav Volodin, said: Facebook violated the rights of Russian citizens and this measure creates digital chaos.
"Instagram and Twitter have done the same thing in the past, and I think it is unacceptable and a violation of the laws of our country," Volodin said in a statement.
Like other countries, including Australia, Russia has already entered into a major controversy with Facebook, and India, which has been in conflict with Twitter, has also taken steps in recent months to regulate and limit the power of large social media companies.
The law passed in December allows Russia to impose severe penalties on platforms that do not remove blocked content. If they are found to be discriminating against Russian media, they can restrict access to US social media companies.
"These companies are active in our environment, but they often do not comply with Russian laws," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Russian Information Agency on Monday.