An internet monitoring firm called NetBlocks reports that Russia has extended its social media blackout to Twitter.
NetBlocks says its metrics "confirm the restriction of Twitter in Russia from the morning of Saturday 26 February 2022," adding that "the restrictions are in effect across multiple providers and come as Russian authorities and social media platforms clash over platform rules in relation to the conflict with Ukraine."
Russia's information agency, Roskomnadzor, said on Feb. 25 that it would restrict access to Facebook because the company had taken enforcement action against the accounts of four state-backed media firms. Meta vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg offered additional context about the situation in the following tweet:
Twitter was likely targeted for a similar reason. The company says it's "proactively reviewing Tweets to detect platform manipulation (or other inauthentic behavior) and taking enforcement action against synthetic and manipulated media that presents a false or misleading depiction of what’s happening" as Russia invades Ukraine.
That means Twitter and Meta are both attempting to slow the spread of misinformation on their platforms—and the Russian government isn't happy about that. Luckily there are ways around these restrictions: "Circumvention is currently possible using VPN services," NetBlocks says, "which can help users work around the online censorship."