Russia has just imposed sanctions on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and 28 other important figures from the United States. With these sanctions, Zuckerberg and others are barred from entering Russia indefinitely.
The sanctions are a response to a series of sanctions imposed by the United States on Russia, Russian organizations, and individuals from Russia for their invasion of Ukraine.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said the sanctions were imposed on high-ranking companies, politicians, scientists and journalists who push the "Russophobia" agenda in the United States.
Several other figures on the sanctions list include US Vice President Kamala Harris, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, as quoted from TechCrunch, Friday (22/4/2022).
The emergence of Zuckerberg's name on this list is not surprising considering his company oversees the three largest social media platforms in the world. Not only that, Russia has also blocked Facebook and Instagram since a few months ago.
What is surprising is why Roslansky's name can be on the list considering that LinkedIn does not participate in restricting the access of Russian citizens and organizations. Maybe this has something to do with LinkedIn blocking in Russia since 2016 because they are reluctant to store data in that country.
Interestingly, other tech company bosses who are more active in stemming misinformation from Russia regarding the war in Ukraine have even escaped this sanction, such as Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal or Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
Currently, social media platforms from the United States such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are still blocked or restricted in access for not complying with Russian government regulations, especially for trying to limit pro-Russian messages on the internet.
Meanwhile, Apple, Google, Microsoft and many other tech giants are still suspending their operations in Russia indefinitely.