Amid a crackdown on demonstrators and independent media outlets, Russia blocked access to Facebook and Twitter on Friday.

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The Kremlin's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, added that the decision was made in response to the platforms' alleged "discrimination" against Russian media, citing 26 cases since October 2020.

The move is a major escalation in an ongoing confrontation between big tech and Russia, which has in recent years hit a rough patch with the Kremling engineering internet slowdowns for the tech platforms. Recently, tensions have ramped up even more amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation."

Following the development, Meta's head of global affairs Nick Clegg said the company would continue to do everything it could to restore its services.

"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", he said.

"We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services so they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organize for action."

Early Friday evening, Meta released another statement announcing that advertisers in Russia would be cut off from Facebook.

"Despite the Russian government's announcement that they will be blocking Facebook, we are working to keep our services available to the greatest extent possible. However, due to the difficulties of operating in Russia at this time, ads targeting people in Russia will be paused, and advertisers within Russia will no longer be able to create or run ads anywhere in the world, including within Russia", it said.

Tech companies such as Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google have also paused advertising in Russia amid growing censorship demands.

The stripped access followed moves by Russia on Thursday to cut entry to several foreign news organizations' websites, including the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Deutsche Welle and other media outlets.

On Monday, Facebook and Instagram restricted access to Russian state media across the European Union after receiving requests from the E.U. and several other governments to make such a move. Twitter followed two days later.

Although these bans will significantly hinder access to information, many Russians are still able to access social platforms through VPNs.

Demand for VPNs has climbed almost 700% higher than it was prior to the invasion, according to Top 10 VPN.

Access to financial websites such as online banks and Crypto platforms has also been blocked to prevent Russians from sending money abroad.