Russia to limit BBC, DW, and Meduza sites
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The Russian media watchdog has announced tightened controls and restricted access to several media websites.
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Anti-Russian propaganda has bombarded internet users for months
Russia's media watchdog announced Friday that access to the BBC and other media websites has been limited, increasing internet censorship more than a week after Russia's special military operation.
Following a request from prosecutors, Roskomnadzor limited access to the BBC, the independent news website Meduza, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and the Russian-language website of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Svoboda.
According to the agency, the prosecutors' request was made on February 24, the day the Russian President initiated his military operation in Ukraine.
Ekho Mosvky, a liberal-leaning radio station majority-owned by Russia's energy behemoth Gazprom, announced its closure on Thursday after being yanked off the air over its "deliberately false information" regarding the Ukraine crisis.
Days ago, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, addressed the overwhelming spread of disinformation on media outlets regarding the situation in Ukraine, citing how the Ukrainian army is using civilians as human shields, thus violating international humanitarian law which Western politicians have been ignoring.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian militants have been positioning artillery in residential areas, which is a technique notorious to US military and intelligence in order to target civilians more and result in casualties. “These methods are actively used by terrorists supervised by the CIA in the Middle East and other countries," the Ministry said.
RT downloads banned in Ukraine
Google has prohibited downloads of Russian state-owned media outlet RT's mobile app across Ukrainian territory at the request of the Kiev government.
Facebook curtailed Russian state media's ability to generate money on the social media network.
Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's Security Policy Head, tweeted that the platform is now "prohibiting Russian state media from running ads or monetizing on our platform anywhere in the world."
Facebook parent company Meta said last week it refused to comply with the Russian requirement to lift restrictions on the accounts of several Russian media outlets.
