4 yıl önce

Russia threatens to block Twitter unless it removes ‘banned content’

Russian officials started to throttle Twitter’s services last week and say if the company does not comply within a month, the media regulator “will consider the question of completely blocking the service” on Russian territory.

AP

A man reads tweets by Indian celebrities, one of the many backing the Indian government, on his mobile in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb 4, 2021.

Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor has given Twitter a one-month ultimatum to remove "banned" content, threatening to consider blocking the social media platform within the country if it does not comply.

Last week Roskomnadzor started disrupting Twitter's services in Russia, saying the US platform failed to comply with its requests to delete content related to child pornography, drug use and calls for minors to commit suicide.

"We have taken a month and are watching Twitter's response to the removal of banned content," Roskomnadzor deputy head Vadim Subbotin told the state-run TASS news agency on Tuesday.

'Unlawful behaviour'

He added that if Twitter does not comply in that time period, the media regulator "will consider the question of completely blocking the service" on Russian territory.

Subbotin also told the Interfax news agency that Twitter has not taken any "specific steps" to remove the prohibited content.

Russian authorities have in recent months increased pressure on Western social media platforms, especially those hosting content supporting jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny.

Roskomnadzor last week said it had started slowing down the speed of photo and video content for all mobile users and 50 percent of desktop users in Russia.

A Twitter spokesperson last week told AFP that the company does not support "any unlawful behaviour" and is "deeply concerned by increased attempts to block and throttle online public conversation."