Facebook and Instagram say no thanks to Russian journalist Dmitry Kiselyov

The Facebook account of Dmitry Kiselyov, one of Russia's most recognizable news anchors and the head of state-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya, was deleted just hours after it went live, last week.

Kiselyov confirmed in an interview with newspaper Kommersant that the new Facebook account in his name had in fact belonged to him. His first Facebook post appeared on July 17. According to media reports, Kiselyov also set up an Instagram account on July 18. Immediately after the accounts were opened, users began to post insulting and negative comments on Kiselyov's pages. Both Facebook and Instagram have since closed Kiselyov's profiles.

In an interview with radio station Govorit Moskva, Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council member Alexander Brod said he believes the censorship signals “pressure on Kiselyov for his position and his views," saying, "It resembles censorship and discrimination. Kiselyov did not put anything illegal on his profiles, he did not insult anyone, [and] he did not violate international law. I believe this is a violation of his right to freedom of speech and freedom as an Internet user.”

Kiselyov blamed Facebook for “selective political correctness” and proposed closing all the fake accounts opened under his name.

Dmitry Kiselyov is a famous pundit and an evening news anchor on the state channel Rossiya-1. He is also the head of the state-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya.

Kiselyov has been included on the EU's sanctions lists. For this reason, the British bank account of his news agency Rossiya Segodnya was blocked by Barclay’s earlier this month.

Kiselyov is known for his controversial statements. In 2014 following the Crimean crisis, he said that Russia is “the only country in the world capable of turning the USA into radioactive dust." He is also known for saying on TV that homosexuals' “hearts, in case they die in a car accident, should be burned and buried.”