Alexander Khinshtein, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, IT and Media, believes that the actions of the RKN in relation to Meta Platforms are absolutely justified.
“The actions of the RKN have good reasons. Meta refused to lift restrictions on the accounts of four Russian media outlets on its Facebook social network. 4 Russian publications fell under censorship - the Zvezda TV channel, the RIA Novosti news agency, the Lenta.ru and Internet portals.
I want to note that the right of Russians to free access to information is enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Western social networks have resources for moderation, but instead of removing destructive content, they often apply their sanctions to Russian media accounts and materials that do not contain illegal content. The policy of foreign Internet platforms towards Russia, which is expressed in the targeted infringement of the rights of Russian citizens, organizations and the media, is unacceptable and requiresponse from the state.
If Facebook eliminates the violations, first of all, unblocks access to four Russian media outlets, restrictions on its work in the Russian Federation will be lifted,” Khinshtein said.
Alexander Malkevich, First Deputy Chairman of the Commission for the Development of the Information Society of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, agreed with him and urged to be ready for a “digital evacuation”.
“Everything is completely transparent and obvious. Since October 2020, the RKN has recorded at least 23 cases of censorship of Russian media and online resources by Facebook. All of these are documented cases of "hard" censorship of media resources.
The number of various kinds of blocking in the direction of Russian users is in the hundreds. In this regard, on February 24, 2022, the RKN sent requests to the administration of Meta Platforms, Inc. remove the restrictions imposed on the Russian media. In response, Meta Vice President Nick Clegg went on record saying that they would not do anything.
I would like to remind you that Meta is the only big tech platform that ignores the requirements of the Russian “landing” law. Since Meta includes not only Facebook, but also Instagram and Whatsapp, we must be prepared for a “digital evacuation” from these sites. Regional administrations invested heavily in promoting their governors' Instagram accounts. I think that they need to copy important photos and comments now. At any moment, our opponents in the information war will deprive us of digital capital, which we may not have time to save,” said Malkevich.
bbabo.Net