Russia Follows Up Ukraine Invasion By Demanding US Social Media Companies Stop Fact-Checking Russian Government Content

Here comes The Motherland, insisting that no one allow anything to undermine its LET'S INVADE UKRAINE" narrative. Russia, which has never taken a hands-off approach to content moderation, is demanding US companies stop fucking with its plans for world domination. Here's Patrick Tucker with the details for Defense One.

The Russian government took steps Friday to further limit what its citizens can see in media and on the internet: slowing" access to Facebook and ordering state and independent outlets to use only governmental sources in their reporting on Ukraine.

Russia will partially restrict access in the form of slowing down traffic" to the social-media platform, Russia's telecommunications agency said, in response to Facebook's own restricting" of four state-owned media sites: the Zvezda TV channel, the RIA Novosti news agency, and the Lenta.ru and Gazeta.ru Internet sites.

Russia is fighting fire with fire, something no one outside of Ray Bradbury novels recommends doing. But Russia is big. Unfortunately, so are the social media behemoths it's tangling with. Who would win, a dictator who wants to see the second coming of the United Soviet Socialist Republic or Mark Zuckerberg's ability to defeat all comers, whether they are Tyrell Corp. escapees seeking their cut of a Harvard creeper app or the guy who once rode a horse without a shirt on? Time will tell, as they say when they are escorted from the Techdirt premises.

Nick Clegg, VP of Facebook global affairs, says Facebook will prevail. His statement affirms Facebook's inconsistent approach to content moderation, noting that the company has rejected the Russian government's demands that it stop engaging in fact-checking and labeling of content created by Russian state agencies.

The Russian government, represented by the always reprehensible Roskomnadzor, says it will prevail, noting that local law says it can force nearly any service provider to STFU. According to the Russian agency, all companies - foreign or not - are obliged to pass on content from official Russian sources" to comply with Russian law. Unfortunately for the Russian government, US companies are not subject to Russian law. So, unless the Russian government is willing to airdrop tanks and troops onto the campuses of US service providers, the companies are free to do what they want.

The Russian government understands this. That's why it has given itself the capability to pull the plug on foreign services. And that's why it has continually restricted access to content it doesn't care for. But its scorched social media earth policy only goes so far. Russian citizens may be under Putin's thumb, but they're still capable of drawing their own conclusions and able to express their opinions without worrying too much about being disappeared for wrongthink.

Russian researcher Vasily Gastov says the Russian government is always saying things like this, but ultimately only has limited power when it tries to force its worldview on citizens. It makes hundreds of thousands of demands for content removal every year, but is lucky to see a fifth of its demands complied with by US service providers.

As for the millions of Russians now suddenly being asked to support a war they didn't want, the Russian government's censorial desires are likely to result in less support for its Ukraine invasion.

Gastov said the move to restrict Facebook could backfire. When Russian news consumers have access to multiple points of view, they may be more likely to accept the government's course of action even if they don't like it, he said.

But when readers try to get alternative information and there is none, they get worried," he said. The move to block Facebook will increase tensions and definitely will make people more disconnected with Putin?s own media."

If the Russian government was the undeniable force it desperately wants to be, it would give zero fucks about content posted to social media services hosted in the US. At worst, it could toss around the term fake news" and claim US companies were amplifying a false narrative at the behest of the US government. Instead, it has decided to attempt to impose its will on entities located halfway around the world. And that won't go unnoticed by the public the Russian government needs on its side as it angers most of the rest of the world with its invasion of a sovereign nation. A successful war requires winning over hearts and minds. But these actions show the Russian government feels it's unable to accomplish this goal and must rely on telling people how to think by eliminating their information options.