MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th March, 2021) The decision of Facebook to ban numerous posts by Russia's news outlets is unacceptable, as it has violated the Russian national legislation, including the right to disseminate and receive information, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said on Monday.
On Sunday, Facebook banned a post about the arrest of supporters of a radical Ukrainian group in Russia's Voronezh, shared by several Russian media outlets, including Ria Novosti. The Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor demanded Facebook to restore access to posts shared by Russia's media outlets.
"The decision of Facebook company violates the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens, the right to disseminate and receive information. On the part of Facebook such has occurred not for the first time, earlier the same has been done by Instagram and Twitter. I believe that this is unacceptable. This violates our national legislation," Volodin said as quoted by State Duma's website.
The chairman noted that the legislature would draft "legislative solutions that would prevent this in relation to Russia's media outlets."
According to the legislator, a number of countries, including Australia, India and Italy, have started to develop policies aimed against aggressive policies of IT-companies, and this issue would be top on the agenda of international conferences.
"This issue would be prioritized in the agenda of the coming international meetings, during which we will share suggestions regarding the settlement of this issue with colleagues from other countries," Volodin said.
In late January, a range of social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, failed to adhere to the demand of Roskomnadzor and delete posts that called on minors to participate in illegal rallies. The Russian regulator drew up protocols on an administrative offense in relation to the engaged companies.
