Ukraine is pleading with social media companies to take strong measures to restrict access to services within Russia, stop the spread of lies and put the whammy on Russian-backed news outlets. The prime ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia sent a letter to Google, Facebook and Twitter noting their efforts to curtail Russian lies but asking for a greater effort to suspend accounts that deny or rationalize war crimes and crimes against humanity. (The Guardian, Mary 1, 2922, by Kari Paul)
Mashable reported on the efforts of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and LinkedIn to counter lies from Russia on the war. Facebook and Instagram reported that they stopped two propaganda initiatives, one creating fake accounts claimed to be operated by Ukrainian journalists and another from hackers in Belarus spreading anti-Ukrainian propaganda. YouTube also blocked RT, a Russian media company, from benefiting financially from its over 10 billion views across YouTube channels. (Mashable, March 1, 2022, by Matt Binder)
A number of social media companies responded to calls to ban Russian state media. The companies are attempting to thwart Russia in inundating the social media with lies while allowing Russian citizens access to platforms. (ABC News, March 1, 2022, by David Klepper and Amanda Seitz of The Associated Press)