In Russia's fierce media crackdown, jail for publishing 'fake news' on army

Ukraine Russia war: Russia introduced jail term for people publishing 'fake news' about the army.

Moscow has intensified its fierce crackdown on press freedom and social media as Russia continues to smother critical voices amid an escalating crisis with Ukraine for the ninth straight day.

Russian lawmakers have adopted a bill today introducing 15 years jail time for any organisation publishing 'fake' news on its army, news agency AFP reported, in a surprise move amid growing dissent.

People who "knowingly publish false information" about the military will be fined and get varying jail terms, AFP added.

Facebook and Twitter are being controlled in the country, the social media giants have confirmed. Facebook and multiple media websites were partially inaccessible in Russia early today, AFP reported.

The censorship campaign of tech behemoths has been intensifying since last week with Moscow warning Google, Meta (Facebook’s parent company), Apple, Twitter and TikTok to comply to new rules and set up legal entities in the country.

“We’re aware that Twitter is being restricted for some people in Russia and are working to keep our service safe and accessible,” Twitter said in a statement.

While Apple, TikTok and Spotify have complied with the new laws, Twitter and Facebook are adhering to some parts of the regulations. Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor confirmed that Google has also taken steps to comply with the new set up laws christened ‘landing law’.

Roskomnadzor also accused Facebook of violating "the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens" even as the social media site refused to stop fact-checking content from state-owned news agencies.

Unsurprisingly, pro-Kremlin media outlets remain unfiltered in the country.

Photographs and videos of widespread devastation in Ukraine have been flooding social media which prompted Moscow’s action to limit such content as state-owned media houses continue to paint a positive picture of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, calling it a "special military operation" that had been forced upon the country.

US Senator Mark Warner also warned Facebook, YouTube and other social media services that they had "a clear responsibility to ensure that your products are not used to facilitate human rights abuses".

Thousands of Russians have been protesting the war and have taken to the streets calling for a stop to the widespread destruction. Curtailing press freedom is one way Russia has to censor its citizens from openly criticizing the actions of its government in front of the whole world through social media websites.

Traffic for several websites, including Facebook, has been slowed down as well in several parts of Russia in the clampdown even as Meta refuses to comply to all rules under the landing law.

Roskomnadzor has also warned of penalties if the law isn’t followed unequivocally.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine entered the ninth day today as the number of deaths and injured keep spiking amid a crisis that shows no signs of slowing down. A million people have been displaced from Ukraine in the devastating crisis that has snowballed into a matter of urgent international attention.