Security News > 2022 > March > Russia blocks access to Facebook, several foreign news outlets
Russia has blocked access to the Facebook social network after Meta, Facebook's parent company, deactivated or restricted access to accounts belonging pr-Kremlin media outlets and news agencies, including RIA Novosti, Sputnik, and Russia Today.
"On March 4, 2022, a decision was made to block access to the Facebook network in the Russian Federation," Roskomnadzor stated.
The Russian telecom watchdog added that the decision was taken to prevent blocking the free flow of information and obstructing the access of Russian users to Russian media across foreign social platforms.
"Soon millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out," Meta's President for Global Affairs said in response to Facebook getting blocked in Russia.
Russia justified the media outlets' ban saying that they spread fake news regarding the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the methods used by its military against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure, and the number of casualties suffered by the Russian army.
"On the orders from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, Roskomnadzor has restricted access to a number of information resources operated by foreign media outlets, including those designated as foreign agents in Russia," the Russian internet watchdog said.