Russian government slams media and blocks Twitter and Facebook
The Russian government on Friday stepped up its crackdown on the media, and on people who do not follow the Kremlin's official version of the war in Ukraine. Moscow vetoed access to Facebook and Twitter, and passed a law punishing the promulgation of "false reports".
The sanctions against social networks were closely followed by the decision of major media outlets to abandon coverage in the country. This decision came after the Kremlin passed a law imposing prison sentences of up to 15 years for publishing information contrary to the version created by Putin's government. These media outlets include the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Liberty, Deutsche Welle, and Latvia Meduza.
According to the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, this measure "will force those who lied and made statements discrediting our armed forces to suffer a very serious punishment". He also explained that these actions were being taken to "protect" Russian military forces and "the truth".
On the decision to punish the media, the Federal Service for Supervision of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Mass Media - better known as Roskomnadzor by its Russian name - said that the media had published "false information" on issues related to the armed forces.
In response, BBC director general Tim Davie said in a statement on social media that "this legislation appears to persecute journalistic independence". The director general added that the network should temporarily suspend the work of all BBC journalists and their production teams in the Russian Federation, but that the broadcaster would continue to report outside the country.
Davie stressed in the statement that the BBC was "not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their job".
The BBC posted on Twitter several ways to bypass the blockade imposed by the Russian government. These instructions were accompanied by an official BBC statement saying that "access to accurate and independent information is a fundamental human right that must not be denied to the people of Russia, millions of whom rely on BBC News every week".
Deutsche Welle also posted on its networks a series of instructions on how to bypass the Kremlin's censorship. These included recommending the use of VPNs and the use of mirror links to be able to read information without any restrictions.
This law has also further complicated the work of the Russian media. In the light of the latest news, several have taken the difficult decision to close their newsrooms, including the news website Znak. The independent radio station Ekho Moskvy was shut down on Thursday night, and the television station Dozdh stopped broadcasting after receiving a threat of closure from the Russian authorities.
The situation for international media has caused others to reconsider continuing to report from the country. CNN and CBS decided to stop reporting from Russia, while Bloomberg reported that it would temporarily suspend its work in the country.
This law passed by Vladimir Putin's government comes a week after the EU vetoed Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik. The disappearance of the major European media from Russia directly affects the population and their freedom of choice in where to get their news.
Sky News correspondent Stuart Ramsay and his cameraman Richie Mockler were attacked by a Russian squad on Monday during an ambush in the town of Bucha, 30 km from the Ukrainian capital.
The journalists were on their way by car to Kiev when they were surprised by Russian troops, who shot at them despite their repeated assurances that they were the press. They managed to survive thanks to their bulletproof vests, and to the fact that they managed to get to safety by taking shelter in an open factory. When the shooting ended, the Ukrainian police escorted them to safety.