The BBC’s main news website was blocked on Wednesday by Russia’s media watchdog Roskomnadzor, followed by a warming by Moscow’s Foreign Ministry which said there will be more retaliatory measures put in place to fight the media.
“I think this is only the beginning of retaliatory measures to the information war unleashed by the West against Russia,” Maria Zakharova the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, said on Telegram. The BBC posted a video instructing Russians on how to access information using VPN and other apps. “We continue to show the events in Russia and the world,” the video told the Russian people.
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The video called upon the Russian people to download the BBC app and follow the news developments on social media platforms. On Wednesday Roskomnadzor blocked at least 31 media news sites in an online crackdown on anti-Russian news which does not support the invasion of Ukraine.
Two Russian- language media in Israel which have large audiences were blocked by the Russians despite the fact that Israel has not condemned the Russians in their invasion of Ukraine. Access to independent media has been restricted since the announcement by Vladimir Putin on 24 February to invade Ukraine.
Global tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been blocked and the Russian people prevented from having credible information on what is really happening on the ground.
Source: Eyewitness News, The Moscow Times, image from Eyewitness News
