Facebook won’t let Russian advertisers create or run ads ‘anywhere in the world’

Facebook is cutting off ads in Russia. It’s pausing ads that target people in the country and is no longer letting advertisers in Russia “create or run ads anywhere in the world, including within Russia,” the company announced on Friday. The moves mark a big escalation of its actions against the country and could help prevent Russian misinformation tied to its invasion of Ukraine from appearing in Facebook ads.

Russia earlier on Friday began blocking Meta-owned Facebook entirely in the country, preventing many Russians from posting to social media amid the crisis. “As a result of the Russian government’s decision to block access to Facebook in the Russian Federation, soon millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out,” Facebook said on its page cataloging its response to the invasion. The block could also prevent Russians who are protesting the war from posting on the social network.

Facebook’s decision late Friday follows similar moves from Google, Twitter, and Snapchat, which have all paused ads in Russia.