The government of Russia has announced that they will be blocking access to Facebook, as well as restricting access to Twitter for those inside Russia’s borders.
This comes in the wake of Facebook removing Russian news sources, Russia Today and Sputnik, from their platforms, along with Instagram.
Roskomnadzor, the Russian state media regulator, said that the social network was violating Russia’s “rights and freedoms”.
At the moment, Instagram and Whatsapp remain operational in Russia, according to The Washington Post.
Additionally, Russia’s parliament passed a new law where people who spread “false news” about their military, will be punished with a 15-year jail term, which includes referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as an “invasion” in the news, according to The Guardian.
Russian websites that refer to the invasion as an “invasion” will see their site being blocked, unless they remove the offending titles.
Russian president Vladimir Putin previously described his invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation”, calling it “peacekeeping”.