Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, its internet and particularly its social media had been subject to ever-increasing constraints for years. Since 2022, the already severe restrictions on online activity have dramatically tightened, as Freedom House outlines in its report covering the period from 2021 to 2022. The authorities' aim is to ensure that loyal, pro-war voices completely dominate any outlets used by a sizable proportion of Russia's domestic audience. Right from the onset of the war, we saw headline-grabbing moves to block Western-based social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/russias-social-media-battleground-6727/

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