MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. On Wednesday, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin took a swipe at Facebook blasting the social media giant for illegally depriving Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s account of the blue checkmark verification icon, while bestowing one on the account of his rival, Juan Guaido, the nation’s speaker, who unilaterally declared himself head of state, while US President Donald Trump recognized him as acting president of the Latin American country.

"Facebook astonished everyone most of all. Facebook verified the president’s official account, by placing a checkmark on the account of the parliament speaker. It all is surprising of course when such large social media network that asserts its independence, acts utterly illegally, bending to Washington's will. Following Trump’s statement, Facebook put a verification icon on the president of the parliament’s account," Volodin told journalists on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Guaido declared himself acting president of Venezuela. The US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Georgia and the Organization of American States recognized him as the acting head of state.

President Maduro blasted these actions as a coup d’etat organized by Washington and announced that it was severing diplomatic relations with the US. Protests against the opposition started in many cities of the country, triggering clashes with police and the Venezuelan National Guard. Victims have been reported.