Russia has suddenly restricted all access to Facebook, claiming that Facebook is “censoring” its efforts to tell the truth to its citizens. This move was made right after Russia invaded Ukraine while making its citizens and the army believe that they only wish to liberate Ukrainians from the grip of the tyrannical, neo-Nazi government.

Russian domestic media has also been warned that any “false information” that undermines Russia’s effort to “liberate” Ukraine will have severe repercussions. This, of course, includes all reports of carpet bombing residential areas, burning schools, and damaged children's hospitals.

Russian state communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, has stated that Facebook has ignored all demands of lifting restrictions on popular Russian media outlets, including RIA news, Zvezda TV, lenta.ru, and gazeta.ru.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s head of global affairs, has made an announcement on Twitter that Russian authorities were dissatisfied with Facebook fact-checking and labeling procedures, which is why they had no choice but to prevent Russian citizens from accessing Facebook. Most likely, Russian authorities haven’t seen this announcement since they restricted access to Twitter as well.

It’s not the first time that Meta is put under pressure for fact-checking content that is being posted on its platform. New outlets and even governments are dissatisfied that if certain content is deemed false, partly false, or altered, it is labeled as such and is shown to fewer people.

Furthermore, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram were actively used by Russian citizens for organizing antiwar protests, which further infuriated the Russian government, forcing them to take action.

Was it wrong for Facebook to restrict the free speech of the Russian media outlets? Tell us in the comments below and share this article with your friends if you liked it!