Between President Volodymyr Zelensky’s appeals not to believe certain information and the fake videos circulating, a real information war is also being played out in Ukraine. On Friday, the Russian communications regulator announced “limiting access” to Facebook, which it accused of censorship and restrictions imposed on four Russian media, against the backdrop of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army.
The vice-president of Meta Nick Clegg indicated that the platform carried out “fact-checking” on the information published by these media. Facebook reports, if applicable, that a third-party auditor, approved by the platform but independent, has found questionable information in the article or video. “Yesterday, Russian authorities ordered us to stop fact-checking and reporting content posted by four Russian state-controlled media outlets,” wrote Nick Clegg. “We refused. As a result, they announced that they would restrict access to our services. »
The invasion of Ukraine was the occasion for an outbreak of fake news on the Internet, in particular on social networks, a phenomenon that has become recurrent with each outbreak of war or conflict. “Russians use Meta applications to express themselves and organize actions,” wrote the former British deputy prime minister, now vice-president of the technology giant, from his Twitter account. “We want them to continue to be heard”, he continued, “to share what is happening and to organize through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger”, the platforms of the group.