Russia has moved to block access to Twitter amidst the Russia-Ukraine invasion.
This comes just after a similar crackdown on Facebook, Interfax reported. Russian regulator Roskomnadzor reportedly said it was complying with a February 24 request from Russia’s Prosecutor General.
Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but the company had previously confirmed its service was being “restricted for some people in Russia,” and there were widespread reports of throttling.
Now, it seems Russia is looking to make Twitter completely inaccessible, just as it has with Facebook. Twitter said earlier this week it would label all tweets with links to Russian state media outlets, as social media companies have rushed to limit the influence of RT and Sputnik.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, confirmed the Twitter ban in a Telegram post and likened the move to something out of a George Orwell book.
According to CBS News, a spokesperson for Twitter said that while the company is aware of reports of a ban, the platform does not currently see anything “significantly different” from what it has previously shared.
The stripped access followed moves by Russia on Thursday to cut entry to several foreign news organizations’ websites, including the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Deutsche Welle, and other media outlets.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the Kremlin has added over 5,000 websites to its “denylist,” according to the research and security firm Top 10 VPN. While some banned websites include routine regulation, over 80 news outlets and 30 financial sites have been stripped of access since February 24th.