“26 cases of discrimination against Russian media and information services”: In Russia, several independent media have already been shut down or blocked. Now another one is added: Facebook.
The media regulator in Moscow has blocked the social network Facebook in Russia. The Roskomnadzor authority in Moscow said it was a reaction to the shutdown of several Russian media pages on Facebook.
Several independent media outlets had previously been shut down or blocked. A week ago, Roskomnadzor announced Facebook’s slowdown. Since October 2020, a total of “26 cases of discrimination against Russian media and information services by Facebook” have been registered, it said. In the past few days, Facebook has restricted access to the pages of the Russian military television station Zvezda, the state news agency Ria Novosti and the state TV broadcaster RT.
Heavy fines and up to 15 years in prison
Russia’s parliament voted earlier this morning to amend the law that would severely penalize the media for spreading alleged misinformation about the Russian armed forces. There is a risk of heavy fines and up to 15 years in prison.
Since last week, media in Russia have been banned from using terms such as “attack”, “invasion” and “declaration of war” in reporting on the war against Ukraine. Moscow describes the war as a military “special operation”.
For the change in the law to come into force, only the signature of President Vladimir Putin is required. But that is considered a formality.
According to the wording of the law, it is punishable by law to spread alleged false information about Russian soldiers, to discredit the armed forces and to call for sanctions against Russia.
It is feared that this will severely restrict the reporting of the remaining independent media in Russia. The Russian authorities had already blocked several critical broadcasters in the past few days. The well-known radio station Echo Moskvy announced its closure. The British broadcaster BBC also no longer reports from Russia.
Source: Stern
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