Roskomnadzor, the Russian Internet and telecom regulator, has asked Facebook and Google to ban political advertising during the Sunday election and on the preceding day, in accordance with Russian legislation.
Non-compliance would be viewed as meddling in Russia’s sovereign affairs, Roskomnadzor said on Friday, as reported by Reuters.
Several regional elections will be held in Russia on Sunday, including a sensitive one in Moscow. Opposition candidates have not been allowed to participate in the city parliament election, which triggered a wave of protests and violent repression in the Russian capital this summer.
Update Sept. 9, 2019: Roskomnadzor said Facebook and Google distributed political advertising on election day, seeing in such actions “interference in Russia’s sovereign affairs and hindering the conduct of democratic elections in the Russian Federation.” Facebook answered that “advertisers, not it, were responsible for complying with local election laws,” while Google stated that it runs ad campaign in a “responsible” manner and with no violation of local laws.
