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State fires warning shots against @TwitterRussia

No more tweeting from Russia? The authorities are increasingly angry with international social media networks.

We can close down and ban Twitter and Facebook in Russia any time we want and see no risks connected with this, deputy head of Russia’s state media watchdog says.

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The country, which over the last two decades has given birth to several major internet and social media companies could face a future without the leading international media platforms. At least if judging from the country’s state media and information control service, Roskomnadzor.

In an interview with newspaper Izvestia, deputy head of the media watchdog underlines that social media networks like Twitter and Facebook can be closed down in the country ”in few minutes” if the authorities decide that ”the consequences of a ban of social media will be less than the harm inflicted by it on Russian society”.

”We don’t see any risks connected with this [ban]”, Maksim Ksenzov says in the interview, which is also posted on the website of Roskomnadzor.

According to the state representative, social media companies, and especially Twitter, refuse to remove ”extremist” contents, thus ”creating conditions which makes a ban of the resource on Russian territory inevitable”.

Ksenzov argues that Twitter is an American tool used against Russia. ”I have a firm conviction that Twitter is a global instrument for promotion of political information”, he stresses. He thus punches in the same direction as President Putin, who recently called the Internet a tool invented by the CIA.

Reportedly, the Roskomnadzor after the interview called the statements the personal views of Mr Ksenzov and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, himself an active social media user, tweeted that Ksenzov ”should think before he speaks”.

Still, the statements from the top officials inevitably cause major concern in the media and internet society. From before, the Russian government has introduced a string of repressive media laws, the latest of them new legislation which requires bloggers with an audience of at least 3000 people to register as mass media. The law reportedly also applies to foreigners who post stories and information on Russian resources.

Commenting on developent, the international media watchdog Reporters without Borders state that “like previous [Russian] reforms, the bill’s sole aim is to increase control over online content. At a time when independent media are facing an unprecedented offensive, this is likely to reduce the space for free debate even further”.

The same concern is shared by the Barents Press International, the cross-border journalist cooperation in the Barents Region. In a comment to BarentsObserver, leader of the network Jonna Pulkkinen says the media situation in Russia is worrying.

”With its latest actions that restrict freedom of speech, Russia keeps on trodding the road that’s making it even more difficult for it’s people to exercise their right to express themselves freely. Communication via different Internet services is vital for many organisations, such as Barents Press”, she underlines. “Banning social media would significally complicate that  which is vital for Russians to maintain connections and co-operate with other people and organisations. And most importantly, share information”, she says.