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

[adaseb]

It gets worse. Today a few hours ago. Visa and MasterCard shut down their services in all of Russia. Don’t know how it is there but in North America, everybody pays with credit cards because it’s secure, fast and you get to collect points. So now everybody in Russia won’t be able to pay this way.

Businesses will suffer. And many citizens will suffer also. These sanctions I think are really going to upset the Russian people and they are doing this to they hopefully rebel against Putin and put a stop to this war so everything is reversed.

[davis196]

Economic effects of Russia blocking FB and Twitter?What economic effects?Most of the people aren't making money via social media websites.They just use social media for communication and wasting their free time.If FB,Twitter,Whatsapp,Instagram and Messenger get blocked,there are alternatives.Telegram still isn't blocked and what about Discord or Slack.They could use the Tor network as an alternative as well.I'm sure that Facebook bans users for using VPNs.
Not all Russian banks are excluded from SWIFT.The Filipino workers in Russia could simply switch the bank,or even use crypto(if they know how to use it).
The power of all those western sanctions is a little bit exaggerated.They will damage the Russian economy,but I don't think that they will trigger some kind of economic disaster in Russia.

[m2017]

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.

Blocking social networks is not the biggest problem, although nothing good will come from creating information isolation from the outside world. What creates more problems is that many companies stop supplying their products, which allowed people to work and make a living with it.

Here are some (I looked into the IT field, but of course, other areas are also experiencing difficulties.) of the examples:
- Microsoft stops selling its products and services.
- Adobe (Photoshop, Illustrator,etc) stops selling its products and services.
- Developers from all over the world are discussing the need to disable GitHub in Russia.
- Airbnb stops working on the Russian territory.

- Dell, Lenovo, Cisco Systems Inc, Apple, Intel, AMD, Ericsson, HP, Intel and many others stopped supplying their products.

This list is expanding every day with new companies from different fields.

Now even buying a working PC or laptop is impossible. It is also impossible to purchase the necessary software for work. It is impossible to rent housing for living and working. How can people make a living in these conditions? And it looks like this is just the beginning.

[robattfield]

I find that mutual punishment is not an effective solution to peace. Showing strength to each other will only add to the tension. What people need right now is to get back to life as normally as possible. There is no epidemic, war... But let's see how the leadership acts, and we can only wait if nothing can be done.

[hatshepsut93]

People who really need it for work or something important will just use a VPN or tor. Imo problems with payments will be far more concerning. Lots of employers would rather find a new worker than consider paying in crypto.

[Lucius]

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.

Russia is simply responding to sanctions, and it is logical that it will ban everything they can, although any Russian citizen can still circumvent such a ban by using VPN (which can be an additional cost), or perhaps by using TOR (although I don't know if those services work through that browser). In addition, Russia has its own version of FB, I think it's called VKontakte and has a very large number of users.

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.

I sympathize with all those who are against the war and who are protesting in Russia, but for a country of 150 million people, there are very few who oppose the war - and whether the reason is that they support it or fear their dictator remains a question. Although sanctions will not affect what Russia is doing in Ukraine in the short term, they must be ruthless and without exception. I am quite sure that the people in Ukraine are much worse than those in Russia, and the Russian machine must be weakened and stopped in some way - otherwise, some other countries will be attacked, and then we will not be able to avoid a world war.

[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.

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.

Even if they cancel support for Putin, they'll be arrested for what they're standing for. Too bad that the Russian people doesn't have a choice. Despite that they like to cancel and stop supporting Putin, they're forced to do it because they're at risk of being jailed.
It has now come to this point that Putin should realize that he's doing no good to his people and he's just pushing his own agenda against Ukraine.

[adaseb]

Yes they are using VPNs. If you go and look at the most downloaded app by country you will see a big shift from regular apps like Facebook or Twitter to pretty much mostly VPNs.

Wonder how the VPN will handle this. They are a medium however depending what country they are located in, that country might have sanctions and if they do they will most likely have to abide by the rules.

Another issue is how will they pay for the VPN since credit cards are blocked in their country.

[michellee]

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.

Even if they cancel support for Putin, they'll be arrested for what they're standing for. Too bad that the Russian people doesn't have a choice. Despite that they like to cancel and stop supporting Putin, they're forced to do it because they're at risk of being jailed.
It has now come to this point that Putin should realize that he's doing no good to his people and he's just pushing his own agenda against Ukraine.

It was the after-war effect. Even people who weren't involved in the war felt it. More and more people will be affected by the war. This will probably be worse than what China will experience due to social media restrictions for its citizens. Even though they may still be using a VPN, it won't be long since they might get caught by the government.

It is difficult for the Russian people because they struggle to survive and are still forced to keep supporting Putin. Putin is truly on the verge of trouble with the war he has started.

[Argoo]

Is it really unclear why Facebook and Twitter are blocked in Russia? Over the past eight years of Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine, the people of Russia have been deliberately zombified by the Putin regime about the presence of some kind of fascists and nationalists in Ukraine, so more than half of the Russian population supported Putin’s aggression and lauded the seizure of Ukrainian territory.

But in 11 days of a full-scale war in Ukraine, Russia's losses are so significant that Putin decided to close social networks for them to prevent information about the losses from spreading. So, today, according to the official data of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the losses of the Russian Federation in Ukraine are:
- more than 11,000 killed,
- 290 destroyed tanks,
- 999 armored vehicles,
- 46 aircraft,
- 68 helicopters,
- 117 artillery systems,
- 50 salvo fire systems,
- 23 air defense systems,
- 454 different vehicles,
- 3 warships, etc.

But is the population of Russia so innocent? These are innocent women and children who are now massively dying in Ukraine under rocket and bomb attacks by Russian soldiers, that is, someone's husbands, sons and fathers of this innocent population of Russia. This is only a small part of what awaits the Russians in the near future. You have to pay for everything, and for the criminal inaction of the people as well.

[Oasisman]

I did not read the whole content of the article, but with this news I guess some of the people in Russian that has been suffocated by the economic sanctions have been fighting against their own government.
That's the reason why Russia blocked the mainstream social media to avoid the spread of the news coming around from Russia.
This is typically a Chinese type of move.
This war will only cause death and chaos to the innocent lives in Ukraine, and a livelihood suffering from the Russian people and for the overseas  workers that's based in Russia.

[examplens]

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.

Even if they cancel support for Putin, they'll be arrested for what they're standing for. Too bad that the Russian people doesn't have a choice. Despite that they like to cancel and stop supporting Putin, they're forced to do it because they're at risk of being jailed.
It has now come to this point that Putin should realize that he's doing no good to his people and he's just pushing his own agenda against Ukraine.

It was the after-war effect. Even people who weren't involved in the war felt it. More and more people will be affected by the war. This will probably be worse than what China will experience due to social media restrictions for its citizens. Even though they may still be using a VPN, it won't be long since they might get caught by the government.

It is difficult for the Russian people because they struggle to survive and are still forced to keep supporting Putin. Putin is truly on the verge of trouble with the war he has started.

I am just reading the reactions of some people from Russia who have been affected by this part of the sanctions. One of them complains PayPal is stopped the Twitch network also, its main source of income is closed. He can't use VPN for PayPal, it doesn't help him at all.
What he can change overnight to secure his existence, especially in current conditions which are very limited.

btw. He ^Putin can arrest 100 or 2000 people, but can he arrest 2 or 5 million people?

[tyz]

People who really need it for work or something important will just use a VPN or tor. Imo problems with payments will be far more concerning. Lots of employers would rather find a new worker than consider paying in crypto.

Exact, there are some campaings which collect money to give Russian the possiblity to buy VPN plans in order to be able to read source other than the Russian propaganda. I think young Russians who are very familiar with technology already managed to get VPN or TOR access.

[Mometaskers]

Economically, it's not going to hurt either Russia or these Silicon Valley companies. Losing Russia isn't probably not a big deal for the Tech Giants, they probably earn more elsewhere.

Socially though, this is a disaster for the Russian people. They've been effectively censored and also now have to rely on state-owned media for their updates.

[noorman0]

Yes they are using VPNs. If you go and look at the most downloaded app by country you will see a big shift from regular apps like Facebook or Twitter to pretty much mostly VPNs.

Wonder how the VPN will handle this. They are a medium however depending what country they are located in, that country might have sanctions and if they do they will most likely have to abide by the rules.

Another issue is how will they pay for the VPN since credit cards are blocked in their country.

The problem is not accessibility, but from an economic perspective where Russians usually do business. The blocking of social media only wants to limit western news which they think is a lot to corner Russia. On the other hand, these platforms also have advertising services that (probably) use global payment methods which are currently being discontinued in that country. So that it can be said, the use of a VPN does not mean anything for business people who usually use Facebook or Twitter ads.

[lovesmayfamilis]

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.

How do you know all this? Russians in your understanding are born who do not know how to use the Internet, drink vodka, and do not know about the state of affairs? Which one of you is in the greater illusion? Who is brainwashing with such nonsense?

The Russian government had no choice but to shut down social networks since these two networks spread lies. And to get real news, Russia has sources, in addition to Facebook and Twitter, where the normal and correct information is available.
I am not a Russian, but I watch the news, both English and Russian, and I want to see those who, after the completion of all the events, will express really competent conclusions.

[Lucius]

btw. He ^Putin can arrest 100 or 2000 people, but can he arrest 2 or 5 million people?

Of course, he can't, but the problem is that not even 1% of Russians are protesting against the war, which means that 99% support him or are afraid to take to the streets and show what they think of their president. The fear is logical if we know that underage children ended up behind bars just because they had anti-war banners.

I believe that for the benefit of Ukraine, but also other non-NATO countries (Sweden, Finland, Moldova) that may be hit next, sanctions must be even tougher and uncompromising - people must rebel en masse against the current regime and this is the only way to stop the war.

[DU18]

The decision of the Russian government to block Facebook services in that country is increasingly making it difficult for Russian citizens to interact with the outside world now, the reason for the Russian government may be quite reasonable in my opinion, because so far Facebook continues to discriminate against Russian media in reporting what actually happened, in other words Facebook and Twitter has made a Putin leadership a fear in the eyes of today world.
But I'm quite curious whether Russia only blocks Facebook or they will also do the same to WhatsApp and Instagram?
Because as far as I know WhatsApp and Instagram are social media which are also under meta companies.

[Renampun]

...
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.

shut themselves off from products (social media) that come from outside Russia, it seems that Russia and China already have the same thoughts...

Those who live in Russia and have relatives and friends who are outside Russia will find it very difficult to maintain communication. Currently the majority of Russian citizens use Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, the communist government has a very strict attitude towards their citizens and it will be very difficult for Russian citizens to be able to object to their government, the best way for Russian citizens is to use VPN.

[Captain Corporate]

 Websites can't be banned in this day and age and that has to be a lesson for everyone. I mean our government tried to ban some places as well, but they failed miserably, because we all just used VPN and moved on. Even today there are some websites that are blocked, and we are still using it without a problem. So all in all there is absolutely no way to keep Russian people from using any of these websites, there is no way to keep anyone away from these websites, they will just use VPN and still reach it. Which goes to show you that, all these sanctions could be waltz around and find a better method, and not keep anyone in russia, stay away from rest of the world.