NEW YORK: As Russian missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities, another battle took place online and over the airwaves.

Moscow ramped up efforts to control the narrative playing out in news media and on tech platforms, while big tech companies Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc and Alphabet Inc`s Google put restrictions on Russia`s state-controlled media outlets in Ukraine and around the world.

On Friday, Russia said it would partially restrict Facebook, a move Meta said came after it refused a government request to stop the independent fact-checl(ing of several Russian state media outlets. By Saturday, Twitter also said its service was being restricted for some Russian users.

Images and videos were slower to load on Facebook after the slowdown was announced, according to users, while Facebook Messenger had long periods of not loading at all. On mobile devices, Twitter remained slow it has been the subject of a punitive slowdown since March. Many state websites, including the Kremlin site kremlin.ru, have also suffered outages in recent days.

For the tech companies, the stand-offis the latest step in an ongoing confrontation with Russia where platforms risk government-imposed restrictions in the country as it seel(s to censor dissidents while protecting state-run media.

Major social, video and livestreaming platforms from Facebook to TikTok and Twitch are coming under increasing pressure to combat falsehoods on their platforms relating to the confiict, including the spread of misleading footage.

The escalation of Russia`s clash with big tech comes days before a deadline Moscow set for major foreign tech companies to comply with a new law thatrequires them to set up official representation in the country, which could make it easier for the Kremlin to regulate platforms. It follows a series of fines and slowdowns imposed on platforms which the Russian government said failed to remove illegal content.

Ahead of the March deadline, an online list by Russia`s communications regulator Roskomnadzor showed only Apple, Spotify and Viber had fulfilled all three requirements of the law as of 2145 GMT on Sunday. They are: registering an account with the regulator, giving users a way to communicate directly with the company, and setting up a rep-resentative office.

This month, Russia threatened the companies with an advertising ban if they do not comply. Harsher restrictions that could follow include speed slowdowns or outright blocks, Russian officials have said.

Big tech companies also face the burden of weighing demands from Ukrainian officials and sympathizers worldwide who have called on them to expel Russian users from their services to stop the spread of false information, while also preserving the access of dissidents to vital digital tools.

`Mark Zuckerberg, while you createMetaverse Russia ruins real life in Ukraine! We asl( you to ban access to @ facebookapp and @instagram from Russia as long as tanks and missiles attack our kindergartens and hospitals!` Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

Responding to the demands, Meta`s head of global affairs Nick Clegg tweeted on Sunday that turning off Facebook and Instagram in Russia would `silence important expression at a crucial time.` It was clear others across the tech landscape were grappling with similar dilemmas.-Reuters