How Social Media Platforms Reacted To The Crisis In Ukraine?

Just over one week after Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia started restricting access to Twitter and Meta’s Facebook as these organizations may allow violent statements about invading Russian troops. As a special military operation, it also passed a law that threatens prison time for anyone publishing what authorities consider to be false information about the war. Such action effectively silenced many independent media platforms inside Russia.

A street in Moscow this week with a mural of Marshal Georgy Zhukov. PHOTO: The Wall Street Journal

TikTok is censoring its content in Russia more heavily, blocking access to most overseas accounts in Russia and suspending live streaming and new content uploads for Russian users. The popular short video app’s service disruption in the country has been more sweeping, as its removal of the accounts was indiscriminate, including nonpolitical and benign channels.

TikTok is one of Russia’s most popular foreign social media platforms. It has been downloaded more than 121 million times in Russia which is equivalent to about 80% of Russia’s population. However, accessing the information on TikTok now become way more difficult for users in the country. Russian TikTok users searching for pages hosted outside the country on TikTok’s search function will not see results. Instead, they have to know the specific website link and click through to them on a browser. Even so, after clicking through, users in Russia may only see a blank page without any videos, according to TikTok users in Russia and researchers at Tracking Exposed.

TikTok users in Russia can still access the Russian account of state media RT (on the right), but the same account was removed in the EU as part of the bloc’s ban to cut off access to Russian state-owned media (on the left). PHOTO: The Wall Street Journal.

With no more new uploaded videos and no access to content posted from accounts outside the country, Russian TikTok users’ feed now instead features a mix of patriotic videos and lifestyle hacks only.

At the same time, more Western companies are pulling back digital services from Russia. Netflix is suspending its streaming service and Google will no longer allow the sale of paid apps or app subscriptions on its app store for Android phones in the country. While Google’s YouTube still operates in Russia, it is blocking Russian state-affiliated media globally.

As a result of the law’s passage, the BBC and Bloomberg News also announced that it would temporarily suspend the work of all its journalists in Russia. CNN and CBS News also said they would stop broadcasting in Russia while they monitor the circumstances.

In my opinion…

Even though social media platforms such as Facebook have been criticized for being places where unchecked misinformation spread easily, these platforms are also meaningful tools for freedom of expression. Being able to distribute and access different kinds of opinions is of great importance for people to have a broader view of certain issues. However, with the strict internet protocol, it becomes almost impossible for Russian people to form a global perspective on Russia’s actions in Ukraine, as they are now restricted into the information bubble. Even though the information blackouts may be effective in preventing Russian citizens from forming a critical opinion again the war, it may cause more serious consequences in the long run as people’s opinions may be more biased.