After banning a number of websites and social media applications, Russia has now officially blocked one of the largest news aggregators in the world, Google News. Russians will no longer be able to access Google News within the country.
Russia is Placing a Ban on Google News
According to the story by Reuters, Russia is now set to ban one of the largest services in the world, Google News. In order to execute this move, Google News will be blocked by the country's official telecom regulator known as Roskomnadzor.
Reuters said that the news came directly from the country's official state media outlet called Interfax. The media outlet even released a statement from the regulator regarding why they have chosen to block Google News.
Why Russia Decided to Ban the News Aggregator
According to the regulator, Google News has officially been blocked due to it providing access to a number of different "inauthenticity and publicly important information" regarding what is happening with the special military operation within Ukraine's territory.
Per Interfax, access to publications as well as other material that give information regarding their special military operation is the main reason why they decided to block Google News. As a news aggregator, Google News gives access to all types of news and publications regarding almost any topic.
Russia Bans Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
According to the story by Engadget, Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram have all been blocked by Russia. This means that even Russian influencers will no longer be able to access these particular social media apps.
An article by Independent.co.uk detailed how Russian influencers started to say goodbye to their followers in emotional messages ever since the announcement of the Instagram ban. Aside from just influencers, however, an article by Fortune also talks about businesses that strive off of Instagram.
When the ban was taken into effect, users were then left with a blank screen whenever they tried to access the banned app. Small business owners have also taken to social media to bid one last farewell with one account saying that this would be a tremendous blow for them.
Read Also: Starlink Raises Prices: Elon Musk's Company Blames Inflation
Reactions to Russia's Ban
According to @AfPalasciano, the ban on social media would be a "tremendous blow" directly to medium and small businesses due to Instagram being their main platform.
When it comes to Google News, however, although not really used to promote businesses, it provides a selection of news coming from different publications from all around the world.
In Russia, I have done things like buy socks/furniture/book a massage/a restaurant/a dentist appointment on Instagram. Russian authorities called for Instagram to be blocked in the country - it would be a tremendous blow for small and medium business, it's their main platform.
— Andrea Francesca Palasciano (@AfPalasciano) March 11, 2022
Per Twitter account @MPArekh, with the ban on Google News, the account questioned what would be next and the user wondered whether it would be Apple News.
Should Russia also ban Apple News, Russians will get less access to aggregators to find published news from outside of the country.
They got down to Google News! What’s left, Apple News?? #Russia #Ukraine #PutinsWar $GOOG $AAPL https://t.co/Nip3xEDimn
— Michael (मुकेश) (@MParekh) March 23, 2022
Related Article: Meta Facebook 'Fact Check' for Russia Gets Partial Block from State Media-Why?
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
