Russia’s censorship agency decides not to block Twitter

Russia’s censorship agency, Roskomnadzor (RKN), has decided against completely blocking Twitter, it announced in a statement on May 17. 

According to RKN, in the two months since the censorship agency began throttling Twitter traffic in Russia, the social network has removed more than 91 percent of the flagged posts containing prohibited information. Twitter’s leadership has stated officially that it “fully shares in the department’s [RKN’s] moves to combat socially dangerous content and will take all necessary measures to remove it.”

Roskomnadzor added that Twitter traffic will no longer be slowed down on fixed networks and associated Wi-Fi networks. The social network’s traffic will still be throttled on mobile devices, however. 

In addition, RKN said it has identified illegal materials posted on other platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. “In the event that these platforms don’t take the appropriate measures, similar sanctions may be applied to them,” the censorship agency warned. 

Roskomnadzor began throttling Twitter traffic in Russia on March 10, after accusing the social network for failing to remove prohibited content.

In early April, a Russian court fined Twitter 8.9 million rubles (about $120,000) for failing to remove posts about unauthorized protest rallies.