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 such as 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-checking of several Russian state media outlets. By Saturday, Twitter also said its service was being restricted for some Russian users.