Facebook has been blocked in Russia by the country’s communications regulator.
Roskomnadzor said the move was in response to what it claimed was restricted access to Russia media on the social media platform.
According to the regulator, there have been 26 cases of discrimination against Russian media by Facebook since October 2020, with access restricted to state-backed channels like RT and the RIA news agency.
Meta Platforms Inc, which runs Facebook and Instagram, has not yet commented.
The US tech giant this week said it had restricted access to RT and Sputnik across the European Union.
And now Facebook and Instagram are blocking RT and Sputnik for users in the UK following a request by the British government.
It follows a letter by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries in which she urged Meta, TikTok, and Twitter to restrict access to the Russian state-owned organisations which she accused of spreading “damaging propaganda into Britain”.
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“I want to urge you to do everything you can to apply the approach you are taking across the EU to block access both to RT and to Sputnik’s online output on your UK services,” said Ms Dorries.
A spokesperson for Meta told Sky News: “Earlier this week, we announced that we’d be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU.”
“Consistent with that action, and following a request from the UK government, we will also be restricting access to RT and Sputnik in the UK at this time,” they added.
In response to Meta’s move, Ms Dorries tweeted: “I thank Meta in responding to my call to remove RT and Sputnik from their platforms in the UK. It is important that we do all we can to tackle propaganda pushed by Putin’s Russia.”
