The platform is hostile and irrelevant, a senior official has argued
FILE PHOTO: Aleksandr Yushchenko © Sputnik / Grigory Sysoev
Russia should not lift its ban on Twitter because of the platform’s “hostile” policies and the attitudes of most of its users, a senior lawmaker from the Communist Party has argued, after the idea was floated by a fellow MP.
“Today, Twitter has an absolutely hostile policy, so its presence or absence [in Russia] is not a high priority issue. Twitter has lost its relevance in the field of messaging, so nobody loses much from it not being there,” Aleksandr Yushchenko told the RTVI news outlet on Monday.
The official described Twitter’s predominant audience as “outlandish and mostly pro-Ukrainian.” Instagram, another platform blocked in Russia, would be a better candidate for possible reinstatement because it would be useful for small businesses, he suggested.
Yushchenko is spokesman for the Communist Party and also serves as deputy chair of the State Duma’s Committee for Information Policy. He was reacting to a proposal by fellow committee member Anton Gorelkin of the United Russia party to lift the ban on Twitter. Gorelkin cited a recent shift in the treatment of Russian accounts under new Twitter CEO Elon Musk as a reason to reconsider the ban.
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Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor blocked Twitter in early March 2022 at the request of the prosecutor general’s office. The service discriminated against Russian news outlets and allowed the circulation of false information about Moscow’s military operation against Ukraine, the agency claimed at the time.
Previously, Roskomnadzor also had issues with Twitter’s reported failure to delete information banned in Russia, such as child pornography and tips on consuming illegal substances. It also said the platform was not complying with rules which require firms that handle the personal data of Russian citizens to store it on servers inside national jurisdiction.
Asked about Gorelkin’s proposal, the regulator told TASS that it had listed some 1,300 Twitter posts that remain online despite being flagged as prohibited in Russia. There was no basis for lifting the ban, it explained, adding that Russians can use alternative platforms to communicate and access the news.
