Twitter says its site is being restricted in Russia

Twitter said in a tweet on Saturday it was aware its service was being restricted for some people in Russia and said it was working to keep the site safe and accessible.

On Friday, one day after Russia invaded Ukraine, Moscow said it was partially limiting access to Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook, accusing it of "censoring" Russian media. It was not immediately clear what Russia's restrictions on Facebook would involve.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a question on whether Russia had communicated with the company about any actions.

Twitter said it was working to keep its service safe and accessible. It did not immediately respond to a question on whether Russia had communicated with the company about any actions.

Internet blockage observatory NetBlocks reported that Twitter had been restricted on leading networks https://bit.ly/3BXXVMt. A Reuters reporter in Moscow on Saturday said the site was slow and had difficulties sending tweets.

Russia has been trying to exert tighter control over the internet and big tech companies for years, in efforts that critics say threaten individual and corporate freedom, and are part of a wider crackdown against outspoken opponents of the Kremlin.

Last year, Moscow slowed down the speed of Twitter in a punitive move because it said the site was not removing illegal content.