Russia blocks Facebook, accusing it of restricting access to Russian media

Russia is blocking Meta Platforms Inc’s (FB.O) Facebook, the country’s communications regulator said on Friday, in response to what it said were restrictions of access to Russian media on the platform.

The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said there had been 26 cases of discrimination against Russian media by Facebook since October 2020, including restrictions in recent days on state-backed channels like RT and the RIA news agency, Reuters reported.

The move is a major escalation in an ongoing confrontation between big tech companies and Russia, which has in recent years issued a slew of fines and hobbled services through slowdowns, Reuters reported.

The tensions have ramped up amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation.”

Tass news agency reported on Friday that Russia has restricted access to Twitter (TWTR.N). Interfax news agency earlier said the service had been blocked.

Twitter Inc did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meta’s head of global affairs Nick Clegg said the company would continue to do everything it could to restore its services.

“Soon millions of ordinary Russian will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter.