MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Facebook’s move to block RT’s video project is an example of wrong attitude to the global journalist community, Chairman of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) Committee for Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications Leonid Levin told reporters on Thursday.
"The move to block the account of the RT project In the Now looks like an example of Facebook’s incorrect policy not only towards the Russian media but also towards the entire global journalist community. The lack of a clear explanation on the part of the social network makes one think that the step was paid for and is aimed at putting pressure on media projects expressing views different from those defined by western governments," he said.
According to the senior Russian lawmaker, "this incident, aimed at restricting freedom of expression and freedom of the media, should be made widely known, and a question should be put before the global journalist community: whether big western platforms are consistent with the basic principles of a democratic society." "It is particularly important given the lack of international regulations in this area," Levin added.
At the same time, he said it was necessary to wait for Facebook to explain its actions "in relation to the generally accepted ethical and professional norms."
RT Chief Editor Margarita Simonyan said earlier that Facebook had blocked a page related to one of the TV channel’s projects dubbed In the Now. The project and several of its affiliates have collected more than 2.5 bln views, RT pointed out, adding that the pages could have been blocked at CNN’s request, which had claimed that they were concealing their links to the Kremlin.