RT Deputy Editor-in-Chief Anna Belkina said in a statement on Tuesday that technology companies that have cut her outlet's distribution have not pointed to "a single grain of evidence that what RT has reported over these days, and continues to report, is not true."
"This collective ‘establishment’ seems to be terrified of a mere presence of any outside voice for the fear of losing their historically captive audience, if that audience encounters a different perspective," the statement said.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is forcing Silicon Valley giants into a geopolitical high-wire act they have long tried to avoid.
From Facebook and Google to Apple and Microsoft, platforms have moved to limit the reach of Kremlin-controlled media outlets.
Apple pauses sales in Russia and stops all exports
BUSINESS
Apple pauses sales in Russia and stops all exports
Google has booted Russian state media from its Google News service. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are making posts from Kremlin-affiliated news outlets harder to find. TikTok, YouTube and Facebook are blocking two of the biggest outlets, RT (formerly known as Russia Today) and Sputnik News, across Europe. Apple, Google and Microsoft have pulled their apps from their app stores.
But these actions run the risk of angering President Vladimir Putin so much that the platforms themselves get kicked out of Russia.
Tech companies are doing "a delicate dance" as their services have become a key battleground in the war in Ukraine, said Katie Harbath, a former public policy director at Facebook now at the International Republican Institute.
On one hand, the companies don't want to let Russia use their platforms to amplify propaganda and disinformation.
But on the other, "they want to make sure their tools remain available in both Russia and Ukraine, because they are some of the few ones that activists have in order to organize and to get their messages out that are not controlled by the Russian government," Harbath said.
Facebook executive says remaining online in Russia is a top priority
On a call with reporters on Tuesday, Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Facebook parent company Meta, described the industry's efforts to curb the reach of Russian state media as "exceptional measures" taken in response to "a highly exceptional and tragic state of affairs."
Facebook and TikTok block Russian state media in Europe
TECHNOLOGY
Facebook and TikTok block Russian state media in Europe
He also characterized the decisions as "a difficult balancing trick." Ordinary Russians are using Meta's services, which also include WhatsApp, to get information, organize protests, speak out against the war and communicate with friends and family, he said.
That's why Meta disagrees with calls from Ukraine's government to cut off its services inside Russia, he said.
"In the long run, the thing that really undermines propaganda is counter speech," he said.
Russia Slows Twitter In Blunt Warning To U.S.-Based Social Media Platforms
TECHNOLOGY
Russia Slows Twitter In Blunt Warning To U.S.-Based Social Media Platforms
The threat of a shutdown in Russia is real.
Last week, the country's internet regulator said it would limit access to Facebook in response to what it described as "censorship" of state media outlets. Meta said the throttling was in retaliation for its refusal to remove fact-checks on false or misleading posts from Russian state media.
Clegg said the Russian government's actions were making it harder for people inside Russia to see videos on Facebook and Instagram. "The degradation of the service is definitely discernible," he said.
Over the weekend, Twitter said its service was also being restricted in the country. Russia has previously throttled Twitter, and fined Meta and Google, for not taking down posts the government said were illegal.
On Tuesday, Russia's internet regulator demanded that Meta, YouTube and TikTok lift their blocks on RT and Sputnik in Europe, saying they amounted to open censorship.
The tech companies don't disclose how many of Russia's estimated 113 million internet users are on their services. A poll from the independent Levada Center last year found YouTube was the most popular foreign internet platform in Russia, with 35% of respondents saying they used it. The poll found 31% of respondents said they used Instagram, 14% TikTok, 9% Facebook and 3% Twitter.
Russian state media broadcasts propaganda to millions of followers
Even as tech companies face Russia's ire, they are also under pressure from Western governments and civil society groups to act aggressively against Russian propaganda and disinformation.
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter remove disinformation targeting Ukraine
TECHNOLOGY
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter remove disinformation targeting Ukraine
Major social media platforms have become quicker and more effective at spotting and removing Russian interference efforts, in contrast to how they were caught off-guard during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Over the weekend, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter took down accounts involved in a Russian-linked disinformation campaign and a separate hacking attack on prominent Ukrainians.
But those cloak-and-dagger tactics are only part of Russia's playbook, said Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and former FBI special agent who has long tracked Russia's influence operations.
He said state-backed outlets like RT and Sputnik play key roles in creating and disseminating pro-Kremlin propaganda, which can then be further seeded across the internet by fake accounts, bots and online trolls.
"So if you really want to dent their ability to shape perceptions, you need to eliminate the entire ecosystem, or mute it to some degree," he said.
TikTok sees a surge of misleading videos that claim to show the invasion of Ukraine
TECHNOLOGY
TikTok sees a surge of misleading videos that claim to show the invasion of Ukraine
State media has played an important role in promoting the Kremlin's version of events in Ukraine to an international audience of millions, not only on internet platforms including Facebook and YouTube, but also on TV and radio stations in many countries.
They've echoed Putin's pretexts for the invasion, including false allegations that Ukraine is conducting a genocide against Russian speakers and that NATO is to blame for the conflict, said Nina Jankowicz of the Wilson Center.
"State-sponsored media like RT and Sputnik have been dehumanizing Ukrainians for the past eight years," giving support to Putin's justification for attacking Ukraine, she said.
Since the invasion, RT, Sputnik and other state media outlets have continued to push the Kremlin's framing that rather than an unprovoked invasion, its troops are conducting a "special operation" in response to Ukrainian aggression.
Russian authorities have also clamped down on critical coverage of the war internally. This week, they blocked two domestic media outlets, the Echo of Moscow radio station and TV Rain, accusing them of providing deliberately false information. Both outlets reject the accusations.
Facebook, Google and Twitter limit ads over Russia's invasion of Ukraine
BUSINESS
Facebook, Google and Twitter limit ads over Russia's invasion of Ukraine
The first move tech companies made against Russian state media outlets after Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday was to cut them off from their ad tools, so that RT and its peers cannot make money off their online content.
But profit is not the main purpose of propaganda.
"The Kremlin is happy to operate RT bureaus around the world at a loss because they're not in it for revenue, they're in it for the propaganda value," said Nu Wexler, a former communications staffer at Twitter, Facebook and Google.
Soon, calls came to do more. Over the weekend, Google and Meta said they were blocking Kremlin-backed media outlets in Ukraine at the request of the government there.
Then on Sunday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a ban on RT and Sputnik within the European Union so they "will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war." Meta, TikTok, Google and Microsoft quickly said they were complying.
Twitter said on Wednesday it too will block RT and Sputnik accounts in Europe to comply with the sanctions.
Meta's Clegg says the company is reviewing requests from countries outside of Europe to block the channels elsewhere.
The restrictions continued to escalate this week. Twitter and Facebook said they would start labeling posts with links to Russian state media stories, warning people about the source of information before letting them share or click.
Google is limiting recommendations to state media outlets across its platforms. Microsoft is demoting RT and Sputnik in search results on Bing. Netflix said it's refusing to follow a Russian law requiring it to stream state TV channels in Russia starting on Tuesday.
RT's deputy editor in chief Anna Belkina said in a statement on Tuesday that critics of the outlet had not "pointed to a single example, a single grain of evidence that what RT has reported over these days, and continues to report, is not true."
Sputnik issued its own statement, saying, "Any restrictions on members of the press are blatant censorship and the dirtiest example of freedom of speech violations."
Tech companies "have to choose" sides, Russia expert says
As their response to Russia has escalated, the tech giants have made clear they see clamping down on state media as a response to an unprecedented situation, and emphasized they're acting at the behest of governments.
"We're a company, not a government," Clegg told reporters repeatedly on Tuesday's call.
India And Tech Companies Clash Over Censorship, Privacy And 'Digital Colonialism'
ASIA
India And Tech Companies Clash Over Censorship, Privacy And 'Digital Colonialism'
But observers say it is becoming increasingly difficult for tech companies to strike a balance between their own stated commitment to democratic ideals and the demands of authoritarian regimes around the world.
"There's three internets now. There's China's, there's the internet of the European Union and the U.S., and then there's distorted internets in between," in countries like Russia, Watts said.
"The idea of being a global company in the tech space is dead," he said. "They have to choose."
Google tells employees in Bay Area and other U.S. locations to return to offices in April
Google tells employees in Bay Area and other U.S. locations to return to offices in April
Google said it will end the voluntary work-from-home period and start having employees in the Bay Area and several other U.S. locations return to the office starting the week of April 4.
“It’s been a long and challenging two years since the vast majority of our people started working from home,” wrote John Casey, Google’s vice president of global benefits in an email to employees that was viewed by CNBC. “But the advances in prevention and treatment, the steady decline in cases that we continue to see, and the improved safety measures we have implemented across our Bay Area sites now mean we can officially begin the transition to the hybrid work week.”
Casey said other offices in the U.S. and elsewhere will begin to return based on local conditions.
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Google’s latest guidance comes a week after CNBC reported that the company had been relaxing some of its Covid-19 mandates in preparation for a return. At the time, the company hadn’t determined a new date for the official return since it last pushed off its Jan. 10 deadline amid the omicron surge.
Google said it expects most workers to come into the office three days a week and have two days of remote work.
The note from Casey included previously reported guidance such as dropping the mask mandate and testing mandates for fully vaccinated employees as well as the reopening of amenities such as cafes, restaurants, massages and shuttles. Employees entering physical workspaces still must either be fully vaccinated or have an approved accommodation.
Casey wrote that the company will be testing new ways of working and will “gather insights, data, and feedback along the way.”
During March, the company plans to “help folks transition to their new routines and aim to be fully functional in our hybrid working approach,” he wrote. The benefits team is piloting 15-minute virtual drop-in meetings with trained counselors to help with the return.
Nearly 14,000 of the company’s 156,500 full-time employees around the world have transferred to a new location or moved to fully remote work, and 85% of total applications have been approved, Casey said. Employees who need more time before returning can also request a work-from-home extension, he added.
Google employees can work from the office more often if they choose, and some roles may need to be onsite more than three days a week “due to the nature of their work,” he wrote.
