It is nothing new that social networks allow the world’s population to interconnect easily, regardless of geographic location. Today the Russia-Ukraine conflict has become digital, viral and global, social networks are positioned as a primary source of information; however, Russia is blocking Twitter while the invasion of Ukraine is identified, The Verge announced.
On the third day of the invasion, Ukraine reportedly blocked Twitter for escalating reporting, according to Internet monitoring group NetBlocks.
The communication of the next world war has been through social networks, for example, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin warned that clashes between the forces of both countries were inevitable and began a “total invasion” of Ukrainian territory with the aim of demilitarize it, not occupy it.
Videos began to circulate on the internet showing Russian troops on the move along the Russian-Ukrainian border: planes, trucks and rockets.
Shortly after the announcement, television networks and social network users began to broadcast the “military operation” in which exposures and power outages were recorded.
A fact that began to go viral on social networks was the case of Alex Tienda, a youtuber Mexican who is located in Ukraine, recorded the attack and shared it through Instagram stories.
“They are already attacking here, they just attacked here in the city I am in; they are bombing”, said the influencer.
After its publication, Tienda took refuge with international journalists.
Likewise, the President of the country announced the casualties and repelled the war through Telegram.
Twitter suspended Russian accounts
Users from Russia and Ukraine reported that their Twitter accounts had been temporarily suspended for 12 and 24 hours.
However, the social network announced that it was “by mistake” and that it tried to sabotage.
“We have been proactively monitoring emerging narratives that violate our policies, and in this case, we took enforcement action on multiple accounts in error. We are quickly reviewing these actions and have already proactively restored access to several affected accounts. Claims that the bugs were a coordinated bot campaign or the result of mass reporting are inaccurate,” said Elizabeth Busby, a Twitter spokeswoman.
Twitter connections fail
NetBlocks recorded failed or limited connections to Russian telecom providers on Twitter.
However, Russians can access Twitter through VPN services, but direct connections are restricted.
The blocking was recorded by a BBC reporter, who sent a message and later it was sent.
The restriction is not yet clear, but repression on social networks seems to be a common denominator in the armed conflict. Russia announced a ban on Facebook after it deleted the accounts of four state media and “violated the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens”.
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