LONDON: Russian authorities have launched a crackdown targeting Russian journalists and media outlets, and restricting access to social media in an attempt to control the flow of information following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Access to Facebook and Twitter throughout the country was noticeably slow in many locations, while some faced a complete restriction of access. The internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported that Facebook would not load or worked “extremely slowly, making the platforms unusable.”
BBC Moscow Correspondent Steven Rosenberg tweeted last week: “Access to @Twitter in Russia is being severely restricted. This message got through, but took a while.”
Russia’s online censorship has been widely condemned by people around the world, including social media users. One twitter user said: “Of course. Putin wants to be able to deny his actions — too many first hand reports make that nearly impossible. Keep it up but stay safe.”
Another mocked the restrictions, saying: “You know things are going great for Russia when their tanks in Ukraine are running out of fuel and they start restricting their own people’s access to social media.”
Meanwhile, at least five journalists are currently facing charges and many more have been detained across Russia following their coverage of the anti-war protests which have erupted across the country since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is also working to confirm reports that 31 other reporters have been detained across Russia.
Russia’s state media regulator Roskomnadzor stated on Saturday that media organizations in the country are only permitted to publish official government reports about the war in Ukraine.
Roskomnadzor also announced an administrative investigation into at least 10 independent media outlets for their coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which could result in a fine or closure.
On Tuesday, independent broadcasters Echo of Moscow and Dozhd TV were taken off the air and access to their websites was blocked as a result of the investigation.
In its notice blocking access to these websites, the prosecutor general’s office accused the outlets of spreading “information calling for extremist activity, violence” and “deliberately false information about the actions of Russian military personnel.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists was quick to condemn the crackdown on media freedoms.
“Russian authorities should stop employing draconian tactics against independent media as a way to control the narrative around the country’s invasion of Ukraine,” said CPJ’s Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “It is essential that the few remaining independent voices in Russia do not become a casualty in this conflict.”
