Ukraine Crisis: Russians Cannot Access Facebook, Other Media Websites

Russian users faced problems while trying to access Facebook and multiple media websites, on Friday, amid the Ukraine invasion.

Facebook (Meta) and multiple media websites were partially inaccessible in Russia, a move described as a crackdown on critical voices as fighting escalates in Ukraine, international reports revealed.

Meantime, citizens in Moscow are not able to access Facebook, as well as the sites of media outlets Meduza, Deutsche Welle, RFE-RL and the BBC's Russian-language service.

Russian and English-language online newspaper, independent outlet Meduza,

On Telegram, Meduza affirmed that its site was no longer available to "some of its users" in Russia, adding that it had not received notification from the authorities about a block.

After the Ukraine invasion began, a leading independent TV station was suspended its operations as authorities moved forcefully to stifle criticism of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

In the same vein, Google temporarily disabled map traffic data features in Ukraine to protect users’ safety amid the Russian invasion. The map features use anonymous location data collected from Android smartphones to show where there are traffic delays on roads and which businesses and stores are busy.

Experts believe that such data could offer insight into the progress of the invasion.