Economic effects after Russia blocks Facebook, Twitter, etc.!

[cheezcarls]

Now this is getting worse, especially for the ordinary and innocent Russian citizens who are already suffering economic problems! They don’t deserve this to be honest, just like what China did to their citizens!

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-blocks-facebook-twitter/

A huge blow for the citizens, foreigners and overseas workers who worked there using FB and Twitter as their main source of communication to the rest of the world. As the economy continues to collapse in Russia due to the ongoing conflict between Putin’s government and Ukraine. Not sure if they are also banning Messenger, Whatsapp and Instagram since it’s part of Meta.

I have amazing crypto friends from Russia, and I even met some of them in person before the pandemic began. Now it means that they are going to use VPN in order to access Facebook and Twitter. I just feel bad and sorry for them. I don’t know what is going on with the Russian media regulator’s head right now. Maybe he was ordered by Putin or so.

There are also Filipinos who are working there as OFWs in Russia. Not only that they are struggling to send remittances to their families because of the stiff sanctions made by the West (especially taking off SWIFT), they are going to find it difficult to communicate to their loved ones and friends.

This decision alone in blocking social media sites would make the economy go even worse in my opinion!

I don’t know what would be your opinion about this guys. It pains me to be honest, as I’ve already felt what they’re feeling right now in getting isolated from the world.

[Dunamisx]

Well, taking a closer step in looking into the Russian invassion on Ukraine and the implications that we are currently seeing part of, Putin had an intention before the engagement of this war which is best known to him and also design an alternative as an escape route should in case things doesn't work as expected, that's why you see him being muted when asked if he has intention of invading Ukraine.

Secondly from my own perspective, i see Russia maybe trying to emulate what China did by blocking all international service providers and their satellites in China thereby building its own from within, using their own Chinese google and internet and all other social and economical services both online and in physical as within China such as vehicles, phones, home appliances etc. All were China home made and their official language is Chinese. Possibly this may be one of Putin reasons to stir up war, got disconnected from the SWIFT service providers and later come up with it own system from within and this will help them maintain more privacy and i think that's why they wanted to first conquer Ukraine which may be use as an entry point by EU, US or any other foreign country.

[hyudien]

Here we know the role of social media is controlled by whom and for what purpose? there was no other way than incident after incident, sanctions were too late and became a monthly month for Russia. until recently the authorities also sent a letter via email to ICANN asking for the Internet to be turned off in Russia. However, 3 days later ICANN refused the request. we see there is fear about the true message being closed. We certainly want independent media and also present information not for political purposes. rather it provides information to anyone that the situation can be known by all elements of citizens in the world, whether the news from Russia or news from Ukraine. If social media is for that, then there are parties who benefit and those who are disadvantaged. let us consume news and filter according to the realm we control.

[Reid]

I cannot help but think about what you said with the people just working there but from different countries. They need to contact their families for updates about this war and political issues but now they can't. They will be forced to subscribe for a VPN which will add to their monthly spending while they are there to save money for their relatives and remit more.
But, this is one country's issue and all they can do is wait. I hate war more than anything and I think Putin is trying to make a point especially with USA but this really has to stop.

[TribalBob]

really very concerned for the Russian people,
I'm not defending Putin here, we take the positive side of blocking social media in the wake of war, because as we know social media is a place to share from the smallest to the big things, maybe the main purpose of blocking is so that it doesn't become public consumption and becomes news without confirmation. , so that it will make the war bigger, ( in the sense of hoax news) , but as you said the negative side of blocking the economy is not being directed because of lack of communication

[Gozie51]

I have amazing crypto friends from Russia, and I even met some of them in person before the pandemic began. Now it means that they are going to use VPN in order to access Facebook and Twitter. I just feel bad and sorry for them. I don’t know what is going on with the Russian media regulator’s head right now. Maybe he was ordered by Putin or so.

It is appalling that the media in being shut down in the invasion period, I understand that it may be because of false news and information that could be going on now and dangerous for both parties but it should be managed and not to lock people out from media or communication outrightly. The use of VPN is still limited. The media is important and it is unfortunate this invasion is going this way.

[adzino]

China blocks facebook, twitter and other social media networks. And only allows their citizen to look at state controlled media. But as far as I know people can still use facebook and other social media platforms using VPN. So the Russian citizens I am sure are doing the same. Using a VPN to access facebook and the media. So they still can communicate with their "loved ones". As for sending money/remittance, they can use bitcoin. Would take only few seconds.

[kryptqnick]

Russia is getting increasingly more authoritarian, even though they didn't even introduce martial law to set up these limitations. This will no doubt hit simple people in Russia hardest, but in a situation like this, ask yourself the following question: do you think about people in Nazi Germany who didn't oppose Hitler as innocents? If yes, then I suppose you can call Russians innocent as well. But I believe in common responsibility of people, especially when the atrocities their government commits is very strong. Russia is not a completely closed and isolated from the world, and there are tons of people there. They can protest, they can block military bases, they can strike, etc. Watching what's going on and yet being silent about it or, worse, inviting pity because they're suffering from the sanctions is not fair right now, when there are people who are dying from the war and its consequences. Why are people in Ukraine opposing Russian armed forces, even though some of them do get killed when those forces open fire, and people in Russia are sooo afraid of their own police? If there were enough people to protest, they could easily overcome their police, like Ukrainians did back in 2014.

[Moneyprism]

The method used by the Russian government by blocking social media such as FB and Twitter is a classic method used by the communist government, just like what the Chinese government did.

... the best way to get around this block is to use a VPN, there are several free VPN providers that people can use like Cloudflare WARP or ProtonVPN.

[batang_bitcoin]

It is painful because citizens that has nothing to do with the war are hugely affected. If it's just about messaging, AFAIK, they still have their own social network which is the vk.com and they can still talk about everything there.
But with the big impact of these bans on popular social medias, the revenue that their country might get from this and those that have businesses running on those platforms, they are truly affected.

[examplens]

The method used by the Russian government by blocking social media such as FB and Twitter is a classic method used by the communist government, just like what the Chinese government did.

... the best way to get around this block is to use a VPN, there are several free VPN providers that people can use like Cloudflare WARP or ProtonVPN.

What do you think, how many ordinary users know how to use VPN? 10% or 90%?
the enormous size of the nation will be withheld for information not coming from the government.

It is painful because citizens that has nothing to do with the war are hugely affected. If it's just about messaging, AFAIK, they still have their own social network which is the vk.com and they can still talk about everything there.
But with the big impact of these bans on popular social medias, the revenue that their country might get from this and those that have businesses running on those platforms, they are truly affected.

the main purpose of the sanctions is to force the Russian people to cancel their support for Putin. all the restrictions so far have been aimed at them.

[Silberman]

really very concerned for the Russian people,
I'm not defending Putin here, we take the positive side of blocking social media in the wake of war, because as we know social media is a place to share from the smallest to the big things, maybe the main purpose of blocking is so that it doesn't become public consumption and becomes news without confirmation. , so that it will make the war bigger, ( in the sense of hoax news) , but as you said the negative side of blocking the economy is not being directed because of lack of communication

For what I have read this is nothing more but retaliation for what Putin considers a biased coverage of the war, according to him those platforms are allowing the side of the US to express their views freely on their platforms while blocking their vision and as such he has chosen to block them in their country, honestly I am not surprised as control of the media is a basic tactic when a country is in the middle of a war, however blocking those platforms completely does not look good at all and without a doubt it will affect a significant portion of the Russian population which was using those platforms.

[jrrsparkles]

Now this is getting worse, especially for the ordinary and innocent Russian citizens who are already suffering economic problems! They don’t deserve this to be honest, just like what China did to their citizens!

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-blocks-facebook-twitter/

A huge blow for the citizens, foreigners and overseas workers who worked there using FB and Twitter as their main source of communication to the rest of the world. As the economy continues to collapse in Russia due to the ongoing conflict between Putin’s government and Ukraine. Not sure if they are also banning Messenger, Whatsapp and Instagram since it’s part of Meta.

I have amazing crypto friends from Russia, and I even met some of them in person before the pandemic began. Now it means that they are going to use VPN in order to access Facebook and Twitter. I just feel bad and sorry for them. I don’t know what is going on with the Russian media regulator’s head right now. Maybe he was ordered by Putin or so.

There are also Filipinos who are working there as OFWs in Russia. Not only that they are struggling to send remittances to their families because of the stiff sanctions made by the West (especially taking off SWIFT), they are going to find it difficult to communicate to their loved ones and friends.

This decision alone in blocking social media sites would make the economy go even worse in my opinion!

I don’t know what would be your opinion about this guys. It pains me to be honest, as I’ve already felt what they’re feeling right now in getting isolated from the world.

Its not really possible to stop the communication unless the entire internet is shutdown there but I guess it won't happen. Still we can use emails for communication though I am just saying the practical solution and also there are lot of other social media maybe new messenger apps maybe created by and for Russia if they can't able to use whatsapp or Facebook.

What the real pain is they are facing financial issues, lot of investors funds were stuck and innocent sportsperson banned from participation and lot more.

[PX-Z]

I cannot help but think about what you said with the people just working there but from different countries. They need to contact their families for updates about this war and political issues but now they can't. They will be forced to subscribe for a VPN which will add to their monthly spending while they are there to save money for their relatives and remit more.

They can use any alternatives such as telegram and signal for encrypted messages and as long that the internet is up and can be used in Russia.

the main purpose of the sanctions is to force the Russian people to cancel their support for Putin. all the restrictions so far have been aimed at them.

Many of them did protest coz they are the most affected, but reported that their government "arrests" anyone who participates this kind of activity so they are really in difficult times now risking their lives in the hands of their government.

[Husires]

The ban represents an opportunity to increase the number of users, as there is Telegram and the Russian Facebook VK, Segnal and some alternative applications.

Restricting access to social media has proven to be a failure, and citizens will get news from the sources they want unless a comprehensive internet ban is implemented.

For money transfers, the problem is more complex, there is Bitcoin, which will be a great example, and some methods of transferring on the black market, but as I said, the fees will be higher and more difficult.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Doesn't Russia have their own version(s) of FB, Twitter, and all those other social media platforms?  I was listening to the news yesterday and I could swear I hear them reference something of that nature.  It'd surprise me if Russia relied on any Western-supplied social media platform--and same goes for any country in that region.

If that isn't true and they do rely on Facebook, Twitter, and the rest then yeah I'd say that's not going to help things at all.  I don't think losing social media is the worst of their economic problems, though.  Any country could survive that, I think.  Russians have to worry about hyperinflation and the effects of all these sanctions being imposed on them by the rest of the world, effects I don't think have yet started to make themselves felt by the average Russian, i.e., any Russian who isn't one of these oligarchs they keep talking about.

We'll see, though.  I feel for the Russian people, because they're not the ones who created this insanity--and yet it's pretty much a given they're the ones who're going to feel the impact of Putin's political decisions.  Ugh.

[coolcoinz]

Doesn't Russia have their own version(s) of FB, Twitter, and all those other social media platforms?  I was listening to the news yesterday and I could swear I hear them reference something of that nature.  It'd surprise me if Russia relied on any Western-supplied social media platform--and same goes for any country in that region.

Yes, they have VK (VKontakte) and probably their most popular communicator is Telegram. That doesn't mean they don't use FB, twitter or tiktok. There's also many youtubers and twitch streamers in Russia. All these people got blocked from making money because these companies rely on SWIFT.

We'll see, though.  I feel for the Russian people, because they're not the ones who created this insanity--and yet it's pretty much a given they're the ones who're going to feel the impact of Putin's political decisions.  Ugh.

A lot of Russians don't use the Internet, don't watch the news besides maybe government channels that spread lies and brainwash them. There are videos made by people who tried to show pictures from Ukraine to Russian citizens and most of them did not even know that there is war, or they thought that it's just a small military operation against some oppressors who are discriminating Russians living in Ukraine.

[darewaller]

To be fair twitter or facebook is not really that important for the ordinary Russian citizen. If you have a business there, that is heavily based on Russians being on facebook or twitter or whatever, then it would impact you, but most of these goes back to rich people anyway, even the smaller business owner that relies on this could find a Russian alternative, but the big media companies would have to be the ones that got hurt the most out of this.

Aside from that, there are so many more wrong things, the worst I have heard was Russian students getting kicked out of some schools in Europe. If you are a child of an oligarch that supports Putin, then I would understand but aside from that, there is absolutely no reason for such a thing.

[kaya11]

It is the time for them to use their own social applications I guess. There are ways for them to communicate aside from Facebook and messenger. Another is there are so many programmers in Russia and they could've geeked it out. The government is doing all it can to stop people getting information about the outside world. The citizens in Russia in prone in propaganda right now, so anything like Facebook could instigate it, that is a reason to block it.

[24Kt]

It is the time for them to use their own social applications I guess. There are ways for them to communicate aside from Facebook and messenger. Another is there are so many programmers in Russia and they could've geeked it out. The government is doing all it can to stop people getting information about the outside world. The citizens in Russia in prone in propaganda right now, so anything like Facebook could instigate it, that is a reason to block it.

The situation is not favorable if you are not a Russian yourself and just staying in Russia, for work or other reasons. You can always find a way how to communicate in outside world but how about the financial aspect? Like for example, if you are working in this country and you want to send remittance to your family outside. Since there are financial sanctions in Russia, your options are limited. So in this case, I believe people need to learn how to transact crypto. Because with the presence of internet, they can send crypto to their families outside without using third party financial system.