MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Russia will send a note to the United States over the involvement of US internet platforms in propagating fakes about Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday.
"We drew attention of our American colleagues to the fact, and a corresponding note will be sent to them, over the participation of internet platforms of US companies, social networks and video hosting services, in propagating fakes. Notably, it was not a single case, it is massive propagation of fakes," she said in an interview with the round-the-clock television broadcaster Rossiya-24.
The episodes in which Western social networks block official accounts associated with the Russian Federation, along with a massive spread of fake news trigger concerns and are beyond the legal framework, Maria Zakharova said. Along with massively spreading fake news, US platforms block accounts related to Russia, including official ones. "This strange symbiosis not only gives rise to concern, it is beyond the legal standards and rules," the diplomat stressed.
Interference in Russia's affairs
Moscow is going to bring up the issue of Washington’s international meddling in Russia’s internal affairs on various international platforms, including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Maria Zakharova said.
"I would like to say that alongside our bilateral contacts with US diplomats this issue will be raised on the platforms of international organizations, which are focused on such problems," she said. "In combination with crude intervention in the internal affairs - and this is precisely the way we interpret actions being taken by the American side - we have been able to see terrible juggling with cybertechnologies."
Zakharova said that on the one hand fakes were being spread, but on the other, Russian content and Russian officials were being blocked and facts - manipulated with. "We will do our utmost to put all these facts across on the international platforms concerned," Zakharova said. "Let me say once again, the discussion is not over, it will be continued."
"First and foremost, the OSCE," she added, when asked what international platforms she had in mind.
The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier declared a protest to the US ambassador following Washington’s statements on unauthorized rallies in Russia saying that such actions are seen as interference in domestic affairs.