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Page of Russian delegation at Vienna talks blocked by mistake — Meta

Earlier, Facebook management limited access to the Russian delegation’s official page

NEW YORK, January 18. /TASS/. Facebook blocked the official page of the Russian delegation at Vienna talks on security and arms control mistakenly with automated tools. Meta apologizes to its users for the inconvenience, the Meta representative told TASS on Tuesday.

"This page was disabled in error by our automated tools and has been restored. We apologize to users for any inconvenience caused by this action," the company’s representatives said responding to a request to comment on this situation.

Earlier, Facebook management limited access to the Russian delegation’s official page. Roskomnadzor on January 16 demanded the account should be unblocked at once. The watchdog said Facebook’s management had violated the key principles of freedom of and unhampered access to information. The watchdog described the social network’s actions as "an act of censorship, prohibited under the Russian Constitution."

Facebook unblocked the Russian delegation’s page on January 17.

A source close to the watchdog said that "the possibility of slowing down the operation of Facebook in Russia was considered." "The necessary administrative and technical preparations were made for slowing down the service’s operation in Russia," the source said.

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