Roskomnadzor orders Twitter to block Lyubov Sobol’s account
Russian opposition politician Lyubov Sobol says that the country’s federal censor, Roskomnadzor, sent a notice to Twitter ordering the social network to block her account.
“If you’re not tired of news about ‘freedom of speech’ in Russia, here’s another one for you. Roskomnadzor is demanding to block my Twitter. Not a single tweet, but the WHOLE ACCOUNT in its entirety. The notice came late last night. What is this if not the Kremlin’s hysterics before the elections?”
Roskomnadzor claimed that Sobol’s account is used to “promote the activities and implement the actions” of organizations linked to jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny, which were outlawed as “extremist” in June.
Roskomnadzor blocked Alexey Navalny’s main website on July 26, along with more than 40 sites linked to his banned Anti-Corruption Foundation (the FBK). The censorship agency claimed that these sites “are used for the promotion and continuation of prohibited extremist activities.”
The next day, reports emerged that Roskomnadzor was using “Internet isolation” hardware to block mirror sites created to maintain access to Navalny’s domain. Navalny’s associates Leonid Volkov, Vladimir Milov, and Georgy Alburov also reported that Roskomnadzor had ordered YouTube to block their channels.