Russia — Putin May Disable Foreign Internet Service Providers and Social Media

• Russia is not ruling out disconnecting from the Western social media platforms.
• Twitter banned one of the Russian official accounts.
• The account was reinstated, after the strong statements from the Kremlin.

The Russian president Vladimir Putin stated on February 14th that he does not rule out disabling all foreign internet service providers and the social media. The measures could come into effect, if there will be disguised attacks on Russia and the new sanctions.

Putin said:  “I, for example, have no desire to artificially screw and twist something, but when hostile actions will be carried out, I do not rule such actions out. The hostile actions against our country are unacceptable. ”

Furthermore, Putin also mentioned  that Russia has fully functioning Yandex platform. Yandex N.V. is a Russian Dutch-domiciled multinational corporation providing Internet-related products and services, including transportation, search and information services, eCommerce, navigation, mobile applications, and online advertising. They provide over 70 services.  The Yandex is very popular in Russia, especially for its search engine, taxi and food delivery services.

These statements come on the heels of the Twitter blocking the official twitter account of the Russian delegation tasked with  the negotiations on security and arms control in Vienna.

The information was confirmed by the Russian head diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov. According to the Russian side, the ban is due to an  alternative position of Russia in assessing the current political situation in Europe, voiced during the  OSCE seminar on military doctrines.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections.

Moreover,  the Russian delegation immediately contacted Twitter with an appeal and contacted the OSCE General Secretary Helga Shmid. Interestingly, after Putin statement of possibly banning all foreign social media Twitter unblocked the account.

There was no explanation provided by twitter pertaining the blocking and unblocking of the account. It should be noted, this is not the first time Twitter suspended and banned accounts associated with the Russian government officials.

The Navalny anti-Russian sentiment continues to gain strength, in UK The British newspaper The Independent has apologized to the Russian businessman Roman Abramovich for the publication, which contained claims that he is the custodian of the illegal funds of the Russian leadership and should be subject to sanctions.

The apology was published on February 13th.  The Independent stated that the verbatim used in the article were mistakenly published and were of the Navalny lackey Leonid Volkov.

Leonid Volkov is wanted in Russia and is considered a fugitive at large.  There is an offer to reimburse Abramovich  for the legal costs associated with the false claims and an offer of the donation to the charity of the Abramovich choice. Thus far, Abramovich team has not responded to the offer.

In addition, Sergey Lavrov entertains the possibility for Russia to break off all the relations with the European Union.  The Kremlin diplomacy and the tone escalated. Russia will not allow the foreign meddling into the Russian politics. Any new measures taken against Russia will be met with response. At present, Russia accuses the West of funding Navalny.

Overall, it is clear that the tensions between the West and Russia will continue to escalate.

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