Russia charges Meta, Google with 'inciting' war as social-media friction grows

ffikretow/iStock via Getty Images

Friction continues to grow between Russia and leading U.S. tech names, with Russia's Foreign Ministry calling for a way to hold companies like Facebook parent Meta Platforms (FB -2.3%) and Google (GOOG -0.6%, GOOGL -0.6%) responsible for "inciting war."

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine battles, Interfax reported that Russia's ministry urged a system for accountability for social media names as skirmishes between Russia and the companies continue to mount. The prime ministers of Poland and the Baltics (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) have called on Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter (TWTR -1.5%) to block Russian propaganda channels, Ukrainian minister Oleksandr Tkachenko says.

Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, has accused Facebook of "censorship" and acted to slow Facebook's access to Russian users (after Facebook worked to limit access to accounts of Kremlin-backed media).

Tuesday's news follows closely on the prospect that Internet companies including Meta and Google face possible punishment for failing to open local offices, among other measures that Russia legally required. Social media companies with more than 500,000 daily users are required to open local offices or face restrictions as harsh as outright bans.

Of 13 companies that fit that threshold, only a few appear to have complied with the local-office requirement (Apple, Spotify and Rakuten's Viber). Six others complied in part but failed to open a local office, including Google, Meta, Twitter, TikTok (BDNCE), Zoom (ZM -4.9%) and Likee (YY -1.3%) - and four companies have made no move to comply at all (Discord, Twitch (AMZN -1.1%), Telegram and Pinterest (PINS -2.7%)).

Comments

[Vincent Larosa]

This is not a META game. This same situation was applied to Germany before WW11 and millions died. If it happens today billions will die. Even if we nuked Russia the radiation level would sweep around the globe and perhaps even block the sun bringing on an ice age and slow death. Seek peace not War.

[kata]

The international problem is not the Russians, it’s the Chinese. As long as they support the Russians and threatens Taiwan, the west could sanction them more and should.

[CJlove4all]

Since FB and Google side with communists, thats interesting.

Lets just hope Russian troops are triple vaxed, have CRT and diversity training, and provide their proper pronouns of those they bomb...

[george the animal steele]

Hillary -Vlad needs another 50 million worth of uranium to meet his goal of world domination

[Crayfishkaliari]

southfront.org/...
The Man Who Sold Ukraine

[FTreg]

@Crayfishkaliari you believe what you read or are paid to spread this?

[Crayfishkaliari]

@FTreg i read a lot and believe what makes sense...

[Crayfishkaliari]

@Crayfishkaliari let me correct that I speak about what makes sense to me... i believe very little

[Crayfishkaliari]

lmao Biden's brain is pudding... www.youtube.com/...

[Vincent Larosa]

Do partisan fighters and saboteurs from other nations have any rights if captured by Russian forces?

[kata]

@Vincent Larosa

you mean more rights than the civilians and children the Russians are indiscriminately killing now? Probably not.

[wanster]

@Vincent Larosa I'm sure if captured they would get a voting card with free Covid shot, no ?

[Chaffey]

@Vincent Larosa Ukraine has offered all advantages of being a Ukraine soldier. I believe though they need to sign a 3 year agreement with Ukraine if they want protection of Geneva Conventions. www.cbc.ca/...

[Vincent Larosa]

Inciting War, You should see what they have done to America.

[User 3434471]

YouTube continues to allow pro-Putin propaganda like RT, Tass, Pravda and several Russian-language state controlled networks on its platform.

It is a war crime to propagandize lies in coordination with a government perpetrating violent war crimes. You need only look up "Lord Haw Haw" to get some basic information on that topic.

I call upon the International Criminal Court to include Google and YouTube's hosting of these propaganda networks in its current Ukraine war crimes investigation.

"Irish Times: ICC sidestepping red tape to pursue war crime conviction of Putin. Analysis: Speedy and muscular reach for justice builds on previous evidence for Russia. What was certainly uncharacteristic was the speed with which Khan assessed the international mood and moved to ensure the ICC was not hamstrung by its structural links to the UN Security Council and the vetoes of its five permanent members, or by its own reputation for “glacial” justice. How he did that showed a political astuteness too often absent over the years as the world has clamoured for justice for those directing atrocities in Syria, for example, while the ICC, the court of last resort for establishing criminal culpability, looked on apparently helplessly.

In the case of Ukraine, the court had already begun an investigation into possible Russian crimes there since late 2013, the period leading up to the annexation of Crimea during which pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich was ousted and scores of protesters were killed in the capital, Kyiv."

[Crayfishkaliari]

@null awww america has free speech... poor you lmao so many dummies

[Bikeboatski]

Its not just Facebook and other social media, but many news sites and services in general nowadays! ie. trying to benefit themselves by stirring controversy, generating attention, "hits" etc. That said, how you gonna stop it without limiting the free flow of information? Must rely on general populace having a decent education and good judgement in majority of citizens, etc.

[Crayfishkaliari]

@Bikeboatski banning twitter and facebook is quite the alluring proposition for sensible moral people

[Bikeboatski]

@Crayfishkaliari Maybe I'm not "social" enough for social media, haven't gone there much...never could see its usefulness. But, in my experience, people who use the "moral" angle to evaluate things are often the most immoral of all.

[Crayfishkaliari]

@Bikeboatski yes morality is immorality, nice newspeak

[zoeshamu]

The more you think about the nuclear scenario that Putin raised, the more I believe he can't really pull the trigger. In the MAD scenario (Mutually Assured Destruction), more than 2/3 of the Russian army is located in one area aka Ukraine. A nuclear fallout of a radioactive burst in the atmospheric layer would kill everyone in the region and more, thereby impacting his military since they're all conveniently in one place. So, mostly this will a non-nuclear conventional warfare. Nato has many nuclear weapons close by to Russia as well. You don't need many nuclear warheads, it just takes one.

[Chaffey]

@zoeshamu It is Nato that needs to worry about Nukes. Putin has told us not to interfere with Ukraine war "Or we will see things never seen before". Russia doesn't need to Nuke Ukraine. It needs to keep Nato out.

[Clauser1960]

Hi, here from Western Europe. I think it is escaping many Americans lightly discussing the current war that WW3 would not be like WW1 and WW2 - not at all. This time not only Europe and Russia would be destroyed. Russian nuclear missiles can reach both USA and UK. I am not sure many Americans have grasped: it would be 911 multiplied for at least 10,000 times. CNN would report "from the heart of USA" and I am sure the tones would be far less superficial and/or indifferent.

[zoeshamu]

@Clauser1960 Its not escaping most Americans. No one is ignorant. There is also a belief that ICBMs if used, will be retaliated against or paid back in full. The world has nuclear weapons that kill the Earth more than a 100 times over. That's why its called a nuclear deterrent. But that does not mean, you roll over and die when some bully with a nuclear weapon comes along. You just need to be able to retaliate against the person, else be forever a whipped dog (form of speech).

That's why its so important to make sure countries like North Korea, Iran etc. do not get their hands on such.

West/Nato needs to deal with Putin to make sure such showdowns don't happen again, that way it serves as a notice to future nuclear-capable tyrants that raise their heads and try to take out their weaker neighbors.
Even if it means a nuclear war (it always has been a possibility due to unreasonable people as leaders), unless the Russian people themselves step in and revolt against Putin. That's what Alexei Navalny's beef was all about in Russia. That's why Putin hates this guy so much.

[Leo Plotkin]

@Clauser1960 It's possible WW3 would go nuclear. But think. It's one thing to retaliate, to defend your country with nukes -- quite another to be the general that pushes the red button first knowing it's a guaranteed death sentence not only to them, but also their families, loved ones, and culture. History, if there is one, will forever remember them and their country as the ones who ended it all.

Putin may order a nuclear strike, but it's still an open question whether his orders will be obeyed.

[kata]

@Leo Plotkin good point, Putin may be mad but I don’t think the average Russian soldier is.

[george the animal steele]

Ukrainian Oligarchs Flee Amid Fears of Russian Attack – Reports
Feb. 14, 2022

Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport. Sergei Supinsky / AFP
Ukrainian oligarchs and wealthy businessmen are fleeing the country as tensions with Russia reach a boiling point and Western countries order their citizens to leave, the Ukrainskaya Pravda news website reported Monday.

At least 20 chartered flights departed from Kyiv on Sunday, more than at any other time in the last six years of flight observations, Ukrainskaya Pravda reported, citing flight logs. Ukraine's two richest men Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk are among those who have reportedly fled.

Shipping magnate Andrei Stavnitser and agricultural tycoon Vadim Nesterenko also left Ukraine on Sunday.

Billionaire Igor Abramovich, a deputy from the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — for Life party, reportedly chartered a plane for party members and their families to Vienna, with 50 people onboard.

NEWS
KLM Suspends Flights to Ukraine: Airline
READ MORE
The spate of flights follows nearly two weeks of high-profile departures, with billionaire Victor Pinchuk and metallurgy magnate Vadim Novinsky already believed to have left the country.

Some of the individuals named in the latest report have since denied leaving, with Stavnitser said that he was leaving the country for a business trip and would return within days.

Businessman and former deputy prime minister Boris Kolesnikov, whose plane also departed Kyiv on Sunday, said that his plane had actually flown to Prague for maintenance, and that he was still in Ukraine.

“The deceitful and forever manipulating publication is lying as usual. I'm in Kyiv, and I'm not going anywhere until March 1,” Kolesnikov wrote on his Facebook page Sunday.

The report comes as tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine reach an all-time high and threaten the outbreak of a new war in Europe.

Western warnings over the 100,000 Russian troops massed near Ukraine’s borders reached their gravest point yet as the United States said that Russia could launch an offensive at any time in the coming days, with the capital Kyiv among potential targets.

Moscow denies planning an invasion of its pro-Western neighbor but demands sweeping security guarantees, including a pledge that the U.S. and NATO permanently block Ukraine from joining the Western military alliance.

A flurry of diplomatic talks between Russia and Western countries have failed to significantly de-escalate tensions.

The U.S., UK, Germany and Canada have asked their citizens to leave Ukraine following Washington's warning of an impending Russian attack, and several countries have evacuated their embassies in Kyiv.

The Dutch carrier KLM became the first major airline over the weekend to indefinitely suspend flights to Kyiv.

Industry analysts believe other international airlines may soon also ban flights into Ukraine because of the growing cost to insurers.

AFP contributed reporting.

[genomegk]

The wailing and gnashing of teeth by those who can't accept two simple facts.

Social media is run by private companies.
Those companies say the ability to use their platforms requires simple norms of responsible conduct.

The whiners can play dumb all they want, but even their stupidity can't obscure the clear cause and effect at work.

[jdhawk]

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg Election Funds Violated Wisconsin Bribery Laws, Special Counsel Finds

Approximately $9 million directed to five Democratic strongholds in Wisconsin violated the state's prohibition on bribery, according to The Federalist's Margot Cleveland, citing a report submitted on Tuesday by a special counsel appointed by the state.

POS zuckerberg spent hundreds of millions of dollars breaking the law bribing election officials across the country to ensure FJB got into office.

Hopefully, now he will be brought to justice.

[Longbow Archer]

@jdhawk Do you know who won the 2020 presidential election?

[RunDog]

@jdhawk Funny. If you read the report and the statute supposedly violated, this has nothing to do with "bribery" in any commonly understood sense. It was simply money provided to municipalities to help fund get-out-the-vote efforts, regardless of who anyone voted for. This purported "special counsel" is just some biased Republican muckraker. It doesn't support what you are alleging.

[P M D]

To the GOP, encouraging people to vote is cheating.

[kata]

What exactly is Biden going to do to help Ukraine?

[Crayfishkaliari]

@kata let the ukrainians figure it out... unless you want europe turned into glass

[kata]

@Crayfishkaliari personally I don’t like threats and don’t think Putin is in any position to make them. If he wants to eschew the world community, so be it. Let him twist in the wind.

[Crayfishkaliari]

@kata its not the world community... you need to do more research... its simply not true... for one just as an example the two most populous nations in the world are not siding with america but are remaining neutral on this... you need to consider these things and most people are not

[khlim115]

Russia is its own worst enemy. They have no one else to blame but themselves.

[Crayfishkaliari]

@khlim115 blame for taking ukraine? oook seems they won not sure why they would blame themselves?

[JLassie]

@Crayfishkaliari

They won?
They haven't even established air superiority.
www.reuters.com/...

And that's with Russia spending 10x what Ukraine spends on their military.

nationalpost.com/...

[Crayfishkaliari]

@JLassie dude if you seriously don't believe they have air superiority then you are absolutely blind not to mention as dumb as a brick... ukraines air force and navy were taken out day one... stop drinking the cool aid... pretty much all locations are surrounded now in ukraine... its close to mop up time... get real

[Tdog88]

Lol. So Meta and Google are responsible for the invasion and terrorist attacks from Russia. Sounds like something Russia would say. Why is this even news, who cares….

[Crayfishkaliari]

@Tdog88 no google and facebook are threatening to aid this into escalating into something horrible

[User 56052759]

@Tdog88 No, Google and Facebook are spreading misinformation with fake stories and videos of the war, and not taking them down as they do so often to conservative posts and videos, often claiming those were taken down by "mistake", lmao.

[MarkInDC]

@null Setting your fantasies aside, the daily top-10 most frequently shared comments on Facebook are routinely conservative/right wing people. Ben Shapiro alone usually has 3-5 of those top-10.

[gunzollis]

First, I'm 61.
Every country on the planet has political leaders/decision makers on ALL levels that spew out crack-headed BS lies. Obviously, some more than others. NONE of us know the entire truth. So, with that in mind, we try to educate ourselves with the information we have at hand, and what we see with our own in-person eyeballs.
Common/logical sense along with what we have learned in print and video help fill in the gaps...maybe...maybe. Printed info and videos can be distorted and altered...easily. I always "try" to take things with a grain of salt whenever information of any form is released to the public. To say that one person has it all wrong and another is right, is at least partially blind.

If it walks like a duck, and barks like a dog, it's probably your wife.

Ok, I had to chunk in something ridiculous...

[GlockGoPop]

@gunzollis If you think the US and NATO aren't at least partially responsible for this you're COMPLETELY blind. That is the difference.

[gunzollis]

@GlockGoPop Please re-read my first paragraph. The BS applies to each and EVERY country. INCLUDING the USA. I'll also lump in large organizations.
ie NATO, the EU. Wherever humans exist, there is greed, corruption, and lies. I'm not sure how else I can explain it to get my point across.

[GlockGoPop]

@gunzollis I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm disagreeing with the overwhelming number of people on here who are clueless to the fact that Russia was HIGHLY provoked by the US and our "allies". And Ukraine is incredibly corrupt. They're blindly supporting demons in Ukraine. It's sickening.

[User 56052759]

The nihilist Biden decision voluntarily to cancel new pipelines, federal leases, ANWAR, and leverage loss of bank financing for fracking, and to give up well over 2 million barrels of daily production will be seen not just as an economic disaster. It was a strategic catastrophe.

When Europe, or indeed the West, is dependent on Russian goodwill to drive and keep warm, it can never be free. Ending American energy independence is not just an AOC obsession. Russian hackers in January targeted our Colonial pipeline, shutting down in a day over 1 million barrels of transported oil. The more we discount the strategic consequences of having or lacking oil, the more our enemies fixate on it.

A couple of questions for Joe Biden: Before he took office, was the United States begging Russia to sell it more oil? After he took office, why was it?

Why did Biden blow-up energy independence? Could not tomorrow Biden reverse course, greenlight the Keystone pipeline, reverse his mindless opposition to the EastMed pipeline that would help allies Cyprus, Greece, and Israel to assist other allies in southern Europe, and throw open new federal leasing to supply exports of liquid natural gas to Europe?

What is moral, and what amoral: alienating Bernie Sanders and the squad or keeping our allies and ourselves safe from foreign attack? What is so ethical about following the green advice of billionaires like global jet-setter John Kerry at the expense of the middle classes who cannot afford to drive their cars or warm their living rooms?