Russian President Vows To Take Down Twitter Within 30 Days If…

Brandnewsday gathers that Russia has threatened to block Twitter within 30 days unless the platform swiftly acts to remove what the government termed as ‘banned content’.

Vadim Subbotin, deputy head of watchdog Roskomnadzor, made this known on Tuesday that the ban would come into effect in the allotted time only if unless Twitter removed such content, which he claimed to include child porn and information on child suicide and drugs.

However, in counter-reactions, many critics claimed that the blocking of the platform is actually an attempt to stop Putin’s political opponents from organising rallies, as they did in a number of cities earlier this year.

Russian President Vows To Take Down Twitter Within 30 Days If …

The threat from Subbotin came a day after Putin’s main critic, Alexei Navalny (Twitter), posted his first update from inside jail – sharing an image of himself with a shaved head.

Recall that the deputy head of watchdog last week announced that Twitter’s internet speed would be slowed down unless it removed the offending content.

Vladimir Putin

This has prompted Subbotin to say: ”Twitter is not reacting to our requests as they should. If the situation carries on then it will be blocked in a month without a court order”.

Meanwhile, Twitter is also being sued in Russia for allegedly failing to delete material encouraging children to join anti-Putin protests.

READ: Trouble: Trump Set To Shut Down Twitter, Facebook, Instagram (Reason Will Surprise You)

Twitter said at the time that it was worried about the impact on free speech despite Russian laws specifically outlawing children attending protests.

Russia has also railed against social media sites for censoring state-controlled media such as RT, which have been branded propaganda sites by foreign governments.

Back in January, Putin personally accused social media giants, January of ‘controlling society’ and ‘restricting the right to freely express viewpoints.’

Around 9million Russians are thought to use Twitter, just eight per cent of the country’s total population, though it is the favoured means of communication for Putin’s critics including the likes of Putin’s strong critic, Navalny.

Alexei Anatolievich Navalny Profile

Alexei Anatolievich Navalny (was born on the 4th of June, 1976) is a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption activist. He came to international prominence by organizing anti-government demonstrations and running for office to advocate reforms against corruption in Russia, and against President Vladimir Putin and his government.

Navalny has been described as “the man (Russian President) Vladimir Putin fears most” by The Wall Street Journal. Putin avoids directly referring to Navalny by name. Navalny was a Russian Opposition Coordination Council member. He is the leader of the Russia of the Future party and the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation.