Page 24 - bne_April 2021_20210401

24 I Companies & Markets bne April 2021
Russia to block Twitter in 30 days if it doesn't comply with orders, boosting the domestic tech industry
Ben Aris in Berlin
Russian authorities will attempt to block Twitter within the next 30 days if the company fails to delete content the government says is illegal, it was reported on March 16. The move is an attempt by the Kremlin to gain better control over Russia's internet, but it is also interested in protecting Russia's tech industry to grow the business.
The Russian authorities have charged the message service with promoting political dissent, pornography and suicide amongst minors, among other objections, reports the Moscow Times.
Observers say that the true motivation is political censorship after the state regulator also asked Twitter to delete the account of an opposition media funded by former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who has since become an outspoken Kremlin critic.
"We inform you that Twitter has received an official request from the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media of the Russian Federation (Roskomnadzor) regarding the content on
your Twitter account @MBKhMedia as violating the laws of the Russian Federation," MBKh Media that is funded by Khodorkovsky said in a statement citing information they had received from Twitter.
Vadim Subbotin, the deputy chief of Russia’s state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor, issued the warning a week after attempting to slow Twitter by squeezing its bandwidth. Locals reported that while Twitter texts worked as normal, video and graphics content was slower to load.
However, as part of the effort to block Twitter Roskomnadzor inadvertently closed its own site, that of the government and kremlin.ru, the president’s official site, all of which were briefly offline.
The government is currently considering its “sovereign internet” options, which include a scenario where it closes Russia off completely.
If Twitter doesn't delete certain content the Russian authorities will attempt to block the service.
Inspired by the Twitter saga, lawmakers in the Duma plan to advance a long-standing proposal to mandate that foreign tech companies open offices in Russia in order to operate in the country, reports BMB Russia.
“The bill is currently being drafted by the Duma’s Committee on Information Policy and will then be sent to the relevant government agencies. In addition to requiring Russian branches, the legislation will reportedly contain “a number of requirements and conditions” that foreign IT giants must obey within Russia. If it moves forward, the legislation will
“The true motivation is political censorship after the state regulator also asked Twitter to delete the account of an opposition media”
create an administrative headache for firms like Twitter and Facebook, which do not currently have physical presences in Russia,” BMB Russia said in a note.
Roskomnadzor has bought specialized equipment in an effort to increase its control over the Internet as it seeks the ability to selectively block services and pages, so far without success.
The government's inability to block sites it finds offensive was highlighted after it gave up on trying to block Telegram in June last year after a two-year battle with the popular messaging service.
“We’ve taken a month to watch Twitter’s reaction on the issue of removing prohibited information. Appropriate decisions will be made depending on the social network administration’s actions,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted Subbotin as saying.
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