Russia restricts access to Facebook

New Delhi, Feb 26: Russias communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said on Friday that it is partially restricting access to Meta platforms Facebook in response to restrictions the US social media giant has imposed on Russian media, accusing Facebook of censorship, The Guardian reported.

"On February 25, the prosecutor general's office, in agreement with the foreign ministry, decided that the social network Facebook is involved in the violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, as well as the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens," a statement of the Roskomnadzor website said, adding that starting from Friday, measures would be taken to "partially restrict access" to Facebook, The Guardian reported.

It is not immediately clear what the restrictions would involve. Russia has recently turned up the pressure on western social media giants. Last year, the country slowed down the operations of Twitter, after it was accused of failing to remove illegal content, the report said. Kremlin critics have previously warned that a potential invasion of Ukraine could have negative consequences for Russia's civil society.

"Any potential military action of any scale puts Navalny's life at greatest risk yet," Maria Pevchuk, the ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, tweeted just two weeks ago, The Guardian reported.