In recent months, the Kremlin has also been waging an influence campaign to persuade Russians to quit Western social-media platforms as part of a wide-ranging effort to control the narrative about its invasion of Ukraine. Authorities have passed a law that threatens lengthy prison time for anyone publishing what authorities consider to be false information about the conflict and the actions of its armed forces. Use of the word “war” has been banned to describe what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Russian censors have put up firewalls around several Western social-media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, and are trying to convince Russians to ditch YouTube in favor of homegrown platforms, such as the Russian video platform Rutube.
The websites of dozens of independent Russian news media have also been blocked.
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