Meta executive warns Russia is cutting citizens off 'from reliable information' by blocking Facebook

Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg is out with a statement following the Russian government's Friday decision to officially block access to Facebook, owned by Meta, amid the Moscow-led invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

"Soon millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out," Clegg said of Russia's decision. "We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services to they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organize for action."

Roskomnadzor, Russia's communications regulator, said in a statement that the decision to block Facebook was made after at least 26 instances of  "discrimination against Russian media and information resources" since October 2020, per BuzzFeed News. Since the invasion of Ukraine began, Meta, as well as several other Big Tech companies, have imposed restrictions on Kremlin-affiliated media sources so as to curb misinformation on their platforms.