Several media websites, including Facebook, partially down in Russia: report

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine, Russian authorities have increased pressure on independent media, although press freedoms were already dwindling.

Facebook and other multiple media websites were partially inaccessible in Russia on Friday, as authorities cracked down on critical voices and conflict erupted in Ukraine.

In Moscow, AFP journalists were unable to access Facebook and the websites of Meduza, Deutsche Welle, RFE-RL, and the BBC's Russian-language service. GlobalCheck, a monitoring organisation, reported that the sites were partially down.

The independent outlet Meduza, on its Telegram account, stated that its site is no longer available to some of its users in Russia. Also, it had not received any notification from the authorities regarding a block. 

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine, Russian authorities have increased pressure on independent media, although press freedoms were already dwindling.

Russia's prosecutor general earlier this week demanded the country's media watchdog to "restrict access" to the liberal Ekho Moskvy radio station and the independent Dozhd TV channel.

Those shutdowns were caused by outlets refusing to follow the official position on the Ukraine conflict.

As per the Kremlin, the move on the neighbouring country, Ukraine, is a military operation, not an invasion, aimed to protect Russia from the West and Russian speakers from genocide. 

Authorities recently designated dozens of media professionals and outlets, including Dozhd, as "foreign agents."

A term with Soviet-era undertones, the status obliges those who have been labelled to disclose sources of funding and label publications, including social media posts with a tag or face fines.

During an extraordinary session on Friday, the Duma will consider a bill that would punish anybody who publishes "false news" about Russia's military forces with up to 15 years in prison.