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Kremlin concerned about bans on state officials’ social media accounts

No retaliatory measures are under consideration at the moment, according to the Kremlin spokesman

MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Social networks’ decisions to ban the accounts of Russian politicians and state officials, cause concern to the Kremlin, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that no retaliatory measures were under consideration at the moment.

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Instagram, Facebook accounts of Chechnya’s head unavailable for access

"Such actions cause concern," he said. "The main thing is that it does not strengthen the authority of those social networks. There are some questions to ask but everything is debatable," the Kremlin spokesman pointed out while commenting on the banning of the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya.

When asked if any retaliatory measures would be taken in this connection, Peskov said that such measures were "not under consideration." At the same time, Peskov did not rule out the possibility that reciprocal steps could be eventually taken.

On Saturday, Facebook and Instagram blocked the access to Kadyrov’s accounts. On the same day, the head of Chechnya announced that a new social network, named Mylistory, was being tested in the region, which "is just as good" as foreign social networks. The Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communication has vowed to request clarification from Facebook and Instagram.

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Dmitry Peskov Ramzan Kadyrov

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