The dispute between Russia and the U.S. social networking platform Twitter continues. Russia on Saturday (March 13) accused the United States of engaging in unfair competition using various opportunities offered by information technology (IT) and accused the social media platform of arbitrarily and indiscriminately censoring content.
Russia said this week that it could not remove those banned contents from Twitter, so it is retaliating by slowing down the operation of Twitter. Russia has threatened to block the U.S. social platform altogether, a move that has fueled the feud between Moscow and Twitter.
Twitter currently labels some Russian media outlets as “official media,” a move that has been condemned by Moscow. Last December, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law giving Russia new powers to restrict the U.S. social media giant.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in a Facebook post Saturday that “(these platforms) are basically not governed by uniform standards. It is a semantic and technical impasse.”
“Some moderators arbitrarily and indiscriminately censor digital content without a court or relevant authority ruling,” her Facebook post said.
Twitter said Tuesday (March 9) that it was deeply concerned about the growing number of attempts to block and restrict public conversations online, and worried about the impact on freedom of expression of Russia’s move to slow down its service.
Zakharova said, “Washington’s goal is clear – to use the opportunities offered by IT to compete unfairly in all areas.”
The Russian media watchdog issued a statement saying the decision to restrict Twitter’s website services was made to “protect Russian citizens” and force the company to comply with Russian law.
The agency said it has sent “more than 28,000 initial and repeated requests” to Twitter since 2017 to remove links to content such as child pornography, drug use and inducing minors to commit suicide.
The Russian media regulator said in a statement that Twitter had failed to remove more than 3,000 posts containing banned content, including more than 2,500 posts encouraging minors to commit suicide.
In a statement, Twitter said, “We have a zero-tolerance policy on child sexual exploitation, it is against Twitter rules to promote, glorify or encourage suicide and self-harm, and we do not allow the use of Twitter for any illegal acts or further illegal activities, including the sale of drugs.”
Analysts believe that the use of social media platforms such as Twitter to bring Russians to the streets to demand the release of jailed Russian opposition leader Narvani is the real reason for the dispute between Russian authorities and Twitter. Russian authorities have criticized the role of social media platforms such as Twitter in protest demonstrations across Russia.
The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technologies and Mass Media said that measures to slow down Twitter services starting March 10 local Time will affect all mobile users and 50 percent of computer users.
The agency warned that Twitter could face further restrictions, including an outright ban within Russia, if it ignores relevant Russian laws, media reports said.
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