Censorship rising in China, Russia

Russia and China took steps to regulate media outlets over content issues:

• China blocks WhatsApp: "China has largely blocked the WhatsApp messaging app, the latest move by Beijing to step up surveillance ahead of a big Communist Party gathering next month," the New York Times reports.
• China fines social media sites for not censoring banned content: "Chinese internet watchdog said on Monday that it has imposed maximum fines on tech giants Baidu, Tencent and Sina Weibo for failing to adequately deal with online content," per CNBC.
• Russia threatens to block Facebook: "Russia will block access to Facebook next year unless the social network complies with a law that requires websites that store the personal data of Russian citizens to do so on Russian servers, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday," per Fortune.

Why it matters: As the U.S. figures out whether and how to regulate its online platforms, other regimes are aggressively clamping down on how social sites monitor content and use citizen data.