Russia clears way to block Facebook, YouTube for ‘censorship’

Russian lawmakers move a step closer to allowing regulators to block internet platforms like Facebook and YouTube if they are deemed to have censored content produced by Russians.

Russia’s lower house of parliament, which passed draft legislation in a third reading, says in a media release that authorities can target platforms if they have been found to limit information based on nationality and language.

The lower house State Duma adds that internet websites could also be sanctioned “in the event of discrimination against the content of Russian media.”

In an explanatory note attached to the bill, the authors write that authorities have been receiving complaints this year from Russian media that their accounts have been censored by “foreign internet platforms Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.”

— AFP