The Kremlin Takes Aim at Social Media in Russia

The Russian government has, in recent months, started to target American social media giants which cause headaches for the ruling party. Source.

In recent months, social media companies have faced increased scrutiny and fines from the Russian government. Last week, however, Russia took the more drastic step of slowing down upload speeds to Twitter in response to Russian allegations that Twitter neglected to remove content encouraging suicide and self harm in children and containing information pertaining to drugs and child pornography. Twitter responded with a statement citing their zero-tolerance policy regarding content involving the sexual exploitation of children and the glamorization/promotion of self harm. However, Yevgeny Zaitsev, the head of Russia’s Telecommunication Division, has said that Twitter has not directly responded to the Kremlin despite Russia’s desire to begin an open dialogue regarding the matter.

The Kremlin and large social media conglomerates like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc. have a history of complicated relationships, especially with regards to the freedom of speech which social media encourages. Russia began taking steps in 2012 to better control social media usage in the country and their ability to shut it down. These relationships have been further strained in recent years in part to the role of social media in perpetuating the protests surrounding Alexei Navalny’s incarceration. Navalny, one of the Kremlin’s most ardent critics, was poisoned last August with a military-grade nerve agent. While the Russian government has released statements denying involvement, Navalny personally blames President Vladimir Putin, while the United States and several countries from the UN have imposed sanctions on Russia due to the lack of investigation into the poisoning. 

The recent decision to arrest Navalny over violations of his parole in regard to a 2014 embezzlement case has reignited this controversy over Russia’s handling of the critic. In the aftermath, Navalny’s team has utilized social media to organize protests and expose corruption in the Russian government. The Kremlin also has decried social media platforms that have been used by citizens to organize protests of tens of thousands of people, and it has imposed fines against companies including Facebook, Youtube, and TikTok for inciting such protests. Additionally, with the most recent development of Navalny being moved from the jail to a penal colony, Navalny’s supporters have taken to Twitter with the hashtag #WhereisNavalny, claiming that the move was made in an effort to prevent Navalny’s lawyers and family from having access to him. 

This is why, amidst growing protests and uprising, some believe the crackdown on Twitter is being used as a step in an overarching political move ahead of the September parliamentary elections. The move to control social media platforms in Russia began back in 2012 when the Russian government passed a law that enabled authorities to block certain online content and continued on into 2014 with an additional law which required social media companies to store Russian users’ personal data on Russian servers. Thus far, only one social media company, LinkedIn, has been completely banned on the basis of neglecting to store personal information on Russian servers. Members of the Russian government have announced that if Twitter continues to engage in behavior noncompliant with Russian laws, they would ban the site entirely. It remains to be seen whether further, more serious action will be taken by the Russian government amid their efforts to send a message to large social media conglomerates; however, it appears that this route of potential censorship has been building for quite a while and would not be totally out of the question. The further question that remains is what the backlash of younger generations would be should Russia pursue this route.