Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a video conference meeting with university students at the Zavidovo state residence on Russian student day.
Mikhail Klimentyev | TASS | Getty Images
LONDON – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday criticized the growing influence of US social media giants, saying their impact on society means they can now compete with elected governments.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum for the first time since 2009, Putin discussed a wide range of issues, including the coronavirus pandemic, his recent phone call with President Joe Biden, and economic inequality around the world.
Putin made no mention of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was arrested as soon as he returned to Russia earlier this month after being treated in Germany after a nerve poisoning. Putin denies Navalny’s claims that the Russian president ordered the attack on his life.
“Digital giants have played an increasingly important role in society at large,” Putin said by video conference, according to a translation.
“We’re talking about economic giants now, aren’t we? In certain areas, they compete with states and their audience can include millions and millions of users,” he said, citing recent events in American politics.
“Here’s the question, to what extent does this monopoly correlate with the public interest?”
Putin did not specifically name any technology company.
His statements about recent political events in the U.S. apparently referred to social media companies such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that imposed a ban on former President Donald Trump after his followers stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.
More recently, Alphabet Google has said it will block its search engine from Australian users if the government moves forward with plans to introduce new code that would force it and Facebook to pay media companies the right to use its content.
The dispute is another of the growing attempts to regulate Big Tech.
Close relations between Russia and the United States have deteriorated after a massive cyber attack directed at federal agencies, interference in the US elections and the arrest of Navalny.
In April 2019, Special Adviser Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference found that Russia’s Internet Research Agency reached millions of U.S. users on social media before the 2016 presidential election and used his fake accounts to influence voters and even lead them to fabricated rallies.
Navalny protests
Putin’s comments at the summit of the Davos Agenda come as Western government officials assess the possibility of further sanctions against Moscow over Navalny’s arrest.
In a defiant challenge to Putin, mass demonstrations in more than 100 cities over the weekend saw tens of thousands of people protesting the arrest of the opposition leader.
Navalny’s allies have called for more protests in the coming days to keep up pressure on the Kremlin.
Participants in an unauthorized protest rally against the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny called on January 23, 2021 in Moscow, Russia. E
Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The foreign ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, as well as the high representative of the European Union, have condemned Navalny’s arrest for political reasons.
The group also called for Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release and expressed “deep concern over the arrest of thousands of protesters and journalists.”
In response to requests for the urgent release of Navalny’s detention, the Kremlin has previously said that Navalny’s case has received “artificial” resonance in the West.
Call Biden
Biden spoke with Putin on Tuesday for the first time since taking office of the former earlier this month. He raised several issues with the Russian president, including Navalny’s poisoning.
Biden warned Putin that the U.S. “will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to Russia’s actions that harm us or our allies,” according to a White House statement.
Navalny, widely regarded as Putin’s most prominent and determined critic, was arrested by Russian authorities on January 17 when his flight from Berlin landed at a Moscow airport.
He was subsequently ordered to detain him for 30 days until February 15 and faces the possibility of years in prison.
It was the first time Navalny had returned to the country since he was poisoned last summer.
In his speech, Putin also warned that the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing global problems and imbalances and that these could deteriorate to a point where there is an “all-against-all” struggle.