MOSCOW (AP) – Russian authorities said on Tuesday they will block Twitter in a month if it does not take steps to remove banned content, a measure that increases the Russian government’s distinction with social media platforms that have played an important role. to widening dissent in Russia.
Russia’s state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor announced last week was slowing down the upload of photos and videos to Twitter for its alleged failure to remove content that encouraged child suicide and information about drugs and child pornography.
The agency said Twitter has been unable to remove more than 3,000 posts with banned content, including more than 2,500 posts that encourage suicide among minors. The platform responded by emphasizing its zero-tolerance policy on child sexual exploitation, suicide promotion and drug sales.
On Tuesday, Roskomnadzor Deputy Director Vadim Subbotin argued that Twitter was still not meeting the demands of Russian authorities.
“Twitter is not reacting to our requests properly and, if things continue like this, in a month it will be blocked out of court,” Subbotin told Interfax news agency. He added that Roskomnadzor is currently “not registering specific Twitter steps to remove banned content.”
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for email feedback.
Authorities have criticized social media platforms that have been used to take tens of thousands of people to the streets across Russia this year to demand the release of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The wave of protests was the largest in recent years and posed a major challenge for the Kremlin.
Authorities alleged that social media platforms did not remove the calls for children to join the protests. Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged police to take more action to control social platforms and track down those who “attract children to illegal and unpunished actions on the street.”
The government’s efforts to tighten control of the Internet and social media go back to 2012, when a law was passed that allowed authorities to blacklist and block certain online content. Since then, an increasing number of restrictions have been introduced targeting messaging apps, websites, and social networking platforms.
In 2014, authorities passed a law requiring online services to store personal data of Russian users on Russian servers and have since tried to get Facebook and Twitter to comply. The two companies have received repeated fines, first small amounts of about $ 50 and last year the equivalent of $ 63,000 each for non-compliance.
The government has repeatedly issued threats to block the two social media giants, but has stopped having absolute bans even though the law allows it, probably fearing the measure would provoke too much public outrage. Only the social network LinkedIn, which was not very popular in Russia, has been banned by the authorities for not storing user data in Russia.
However, some experts have said that the authorities could seriously consider the possibility of bans this time.
Subbotin said Tuesday that Roskomnadzor has the “technical capabilities” needed to block Twitter and that the agency does not rule out stopping or blocking other online platforms if it “violates Russian laws and does not meet Roskomnadzor’s requirements.”
In 2018, Roskomnadzor was unable to restrict access to the popular messaging app Telegram for its refusal to hand over the encryption keys used to shuffle messages. Last year, the watchdog officially withdrew requests to block Telegram, which has been widely used despite the ban, including government institutions.
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Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.