Twitter loads slower: Russia blocks two independent media outlets

Twitter loads slower
Russia blocks two independent media outlets

The Russian media regulator does not want to read or hear anything about an “attack” or an “invasion” in the local press. These terms are banned. Two of the liberal TV and radio stations in the country will therefore be shut down.

Russian authorities have blocked two independent media outlets for their coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As reported by Russian news agencies, the Prosecutor General ordered the Russian media regulator to block access to the Dozhd TV station and the Moscow Echo radio station.

The reason he gave was that the two broadcasters were “deliberately spreading false information” about the Russian invasion. Doschd confirmed the move by the Attorney General’s Office on Twitter. The editor-in-chief of “Moscow Echo”, Alexei Venediktov, said in the messenger service Telegram that broadcasting had been stopped. The websites of both media could no longer be accessed in Russia.

The media regulator Roskomnadzor on Saturday banned all domestic media from characterizing the major attack on Ukraine as an “attack”, “invasion” or “declaration of war”. She demanded that the terms be deleted from all reports, as well as all references to civilians killed by Russian forces. Even then, Roskomnadzor had accused a number of independent media outlets, including Dozhd and the Moscow Echo, of spreading false information about the shelling of Ukrainian cities and the deaths of Ukrainian civilians. “We emphasize that only official Russian sources have current and reliable information,” the agency added. Russia launched its major attack on Ukraine on Thursday, which it officially describes as a “special military operation” to “peacekeeping”.

The Russian authority also ordered slower loading speeds for Twitter. The reason given was that the US company had not deleted incorrect information about Russia’s special operation in Ukraine. A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry called the behavior of US technology companies such as Meta and Alphabet unacceptable. “Openly hostile propaganda is carried out on their social platforms, Russian sources of information are blocked, access to domestic media is massively restricted,” Oleg Gavrilov told the Interfax news agency.

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