The State Duma proposed to unblock Twitter

Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, proposed considering the removal of the blocking from Twitter in connection with the return of access to the accounts of Russian government officials and departments.

“As for the removal of restrictions from government agencies. Many of them are in no hurry to reopen their accounts, especially since Twitter is officially blocked in Russia. But I think it’s time to reconsider this measure, given the new policy of the new leadership,” wrote he is in the Telegram channel.

Gorelkin noted that if the platform is “aimed at neutrality”, then dialogue with it should be resumed. He added that Twitter could also become a convenient platform for conveying Russia’s position to Western audiences.

Last week, The Telegraph wrote that Twitter lifted restrictions on the accounts of Russian politicians and departments, introduced by the previous leadership in April 2022. Now their profiles can again be found in the recommendations of the platform.

After that, Twitter owner Elon Musk received a lot of criticism from a number of users. One of them accused the businessman of non-compliance with sanctions and was indignant that Russian politicians were verified on Twitter. In particular, the user gave a negative rating publications Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev.

In response to Musk declaredthat people should “decide for themselves” what information they consume. Commenting on another critical post, the Twitter owner stressed that the platform “will neither promote nor restrict” the accounts of Russian politicians, but attempts to “circumvent [правила] systems” will be suppressed. According to him, the introduction of censorship would be a “weak step.”

Roskomnadzor, at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, blocked Twitter in Russia on March 4, 2022. Before that, the agency slowed down the traffic of the platform on computers due to the spread of fakes about Russia’s special operation in Ukraine on the site. The condition for lifting restrictions in Roskomnadzor called the complete removal of prohibited materials.