The Fort Worth Press - To fight its war, Russia closing digital doors

USD -
AED 3.672975
AFN 67.999629
ALL 91.111523
AMD 387.173992
ANG 1.80321
AOA 909.050989
ARS 993.981532
AUD 1.513432
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.732815
BAM 1.814622
BBD 2.020134
BDT 119.55725
BGN 1.819905
BHD 0.376937
BIF 2953.98033
BMD 1
BND 1.322416
BOB 6.928865
BRL 5.766401
BSD 1.000557
BTN 84.411909
BWP 13.269623
BYN 3.274262
BYR 19600
BZD 2.016663
CAD 1.39033
CDF 2864.999765
CHF 0.87382
CLF 0.035002
CLP 965.829892
CNY 7.176978
CNH 7.119295
COP 4342.43
CRC 511.783262
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 102.303724
CZK 23.461987
DJF 178.168491
DKK 6.937201
DOP 60.252366
DZD 133.649073
EGP 49.295302
ERN 15
ETB 123.874987
EUR 0.930435
FJD 2.263027
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.77273
GEL 2.724986
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.408425
GIP 0.765169
GMD 71.503286
GNF 8624.896781
GTQ 7.734274
GYD 209.32455
HKD 7.775425
HNL 25.244016
HRK 6.88903
HTG 131.657079
HUF 378.151017
IDR 15642.6
ILS 3.75092
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.36755
IQD 1310.63277
IRR 42105.000051
ISK 138.179728
JEP 0.765169
JMD 158.73708
JOD 0.709101
JPY 152.535028
KES 129.059769
KGS 86.200846
KHR 4062.905919
KMF 455.949608
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1390.696575
KWD 0.30666
KYD 0.833735
KZT 492.526512
LAK 21958.415676
LBP 89595.29045
LKR 292.713929
LRD 189.597424
LSL 17.508745
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.855171
MAD 9.880406
MDL 17.94396
MGA 4628.787738
MKD 57.309615
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 8.011227
MRU 39.85953
MUR 46.401052
MVR 15.41001
MWK 1734.922991
MXN 20.05304
MYR 4.382502
MZN 63.904987
NAD 17.508907
NGN 1676.009833
NIO 36.815394
NOK 10.982745
NPR 135.060308
NZD 1.670805
OMR 0.385001
PAB 1.000547
PEN 3.752888
PGK 4.016478
PHP 58.332017
PKR 277.829488
PLN 4.025694
PYG 7823.343849
QAR 3.64829
RON 4.629098
RSD 108.858451
RUB 97.448212
RWF 1371.497495
SAR 3.756028
SBD 8.347827
SCR 13.561861
SDG 601.466847
SEK 10.798655
SGD 1.324715
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.789528
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 571.812952
SRD 34.969835
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.75479
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.504175
THB 34.175006
TJS 10.635461
TMT 3.5
TND 3.10642
TOP 2.342096
TRY 34.371903
TTD 6.799035
TWD 32.164981
TZS 2669.999712
UAH 41.303836
UGX 3662.089441
UYU 41.797332
UZS 12793.41634
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 44.138463
VND 25275
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 608.607348
XAG 0.029645
XAU 0.000367
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.750139
XOF 608.596055
XPF 110.6503
YER 249.849762
ZAR 17.53885
ZMK 9001.209472
ZMW 27.238567
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    0.0100

    61.4

    +0.02%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0600

    7.15

    -0.84%

  • VOD

    -0.0450

    9.275

    -0.49%

  • CMSC

    0.0400

    24.72

    +0.16%

  • RIO

    -3.5550

    63.915

    -5.56%

  • SCS

    0.0700

    13.15

    +0.53%

  • RELX

    0.3500

    48.01

    +0.73%

  • CMSD

    0.0600

    24.95

    +0.24%

  • NGG

    -0.4400

    63.86

    -0.69%

  • BCC

    0.7550

    141.605

    +0.53%

  • GSK

    -0.4100

    36.25

    -1.13%

  • JRI

    0.1000

    13.47

    +0.74%

  • AZN

    -0.1000

    64.59

    -0.15%

  • BTI

    0.0450

    35.445

    +0.13%

  • BCE

    0.4300

    28.5

    +1.51%

  • BP

    -0.9430

    28.867

    -3.27%

To fight its war, Russia closing digital doors
To fight its war, Russia closing digital doors

To fight its war, Russia closing digital doors

Russia's blocking of Facebook is a symptom of its broader effort to cut itself off from sources of information that could imperil its internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine, experts say.

Text size:

The often-criticized social network is part of a web of information sources that can challenge the Kremlin's preferred perspective that its assault on Ukraine is righteous and necessary.

Blocking of Facebook and restricting of Twitter on Friday came the same day Moscow backed the imposition of jail terms on media publishing "false information" about the military.

Russia's motivation "is to suppress political challenges at a very fraught moment for (Vladimir) Putin, and the regime, when it comes to those asking very tough questions about why Russia is continuing to prosecute this war," said Steven Feldstein, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Russia thus joins the very small club of countries barring the largest social network in the world, along with China and North Korea.

Moscow was expected to quickly overpower its neighbor but the campaign has already shown signs that it could go longer and could lead to the unleashing of its full military ferocity.

"It's a censorship tool of last resort," Feldstein added. "They are pulling the plug on a platform rather than try to block pages or use all sorts of other mechanisms that they traditionally do."

Earlier this week independent monitoring group OVD-Info said that more than 7,000 people in Russia had been detained at demonstrations over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Web monitoring group NetBlocks said Russia's moves against the social media giants come amid a backdrop of protests "which are coordinated and mobilized through social media and messaging applications."

The war is meanwhile taking place during a period of unprecedented crackdown on the Russian opposition, with has included protest leaders being assassinated, jailed or forced out of the country.

- 'No access to truth' -

Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last week, Russian authorities have stepped up pressure against independent media even though press freedoms in the country were already rapidly waning.

In this context, Facebook plays a key information distribution role in Russia, even as it endures withering criticism in the West over matters ranging from political division to teenagers' mental health.

Natalia Krapiva, tech legal counsel at rights group Access Now, said social media has been a place where independent, critical voices have been talking about the invasion.

"Facebook is one of the key platforms in Russia," she said, adding that its loss is "a devastating blow to access to independent information and for resistance to the war."

Russia has been hit with unprecedented sanctions from the West over the invasion, but also rejections both symbolic and significant from sources ranging from sporting organizations to US tech companies.

Facebook's parent Meta and Twitter however have engaged on the very sensitive issue of information by blocking the spread of Russian state-linked news media.

Russia's media regulator took aim at both, with Roskomnadzor accusing Facebook of discrimination toward state media.

Big US tech firms like Apple and Microsoft have announced halting the sale of their products in Russia, while other companies have made public their "pauses" of certain business activities or ties.

On Friday US internet service provider Cogent Communications said it had "terminated its contracts with customers billing out of Russia."

The Washington Post reported Cogent has "several dozen customers in Russia, with many of them, such as state-owned telecommunications giant Rostelecom, being close to the government."

It's exactly the kind of measure Ukrainian officials have been campaigning heavily for as they ask Russia be cut off from everything from Netflix to Instagram.

Yet experts like Krapiva worry about what that would mean for dissenting or critical voices inside Russia.

"There's a risk of people having no access to truth," she said.

"Some Ukrainians have been calling for disconnecting Russia from the internet, but that's counterproductive to disconnect civil society in Russia who are trying to fight."

A.Williams--TFWP