MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. Although the administration of the Twitter microblogging service has agreed to delete prohibited content, it has been delaying implementation of relevant requests submitted by Russia’s telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor, said Anton Gorelkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy.
"Twitter has taken a mixed stance: they agreed to delete prohibited content, but they delay implementation of Roskomnadzor’s requests. Presumably, they will keep doing so in the future. So far, they have failed to report that all Roskomnadzor’s demands have been met," he told TASS on Friday.
Chairman of the Federation Council Commission on Informational policy and interaction with the media Alexey Pushkov told TASS on Wednesday that Twitter has to delete approximately 1,200 posts with illegal content by May 15. Otherwise, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) may take further measures to hamper Twitter’s work in Russia, the senator said.
On March 10, the federal agency took measures to initially decelerate Twitter’s loading speed nationwide due to the social network’s violation of the Russian legislation.
The watchdog promised to continue to take measures against the platform, including totally blocking it. On April 5, Roskomandzor decided to extend the measures it has taken until May 15, without introducing new ones, saying that Twitter had engaged in a dialogue and had removed the majority of the banned content.