The official Twitter account of the Russian delegation at the Vienna talks on military security and arms control was blocked for almost a day - "for violating Twitter rules."
This explanation automatically appeared on the @armscontrol_rus page on the social network.
The account was later unlocked, also without explanation.
The suspension of the account on Saturday, February 13, was announced by the head of the Russian delegation, Konstantin Gavrilov.
The diplomat urged the company to explain the reason for the blocking, calling such actions in relation to official accounts censored.
Blocking official accounts presenting the official principled position of one or another country is a naked censorship.
@TwitterSupport, don't you remember what Voltaire claimed?
"I DISAPPROVE OF WHAT YOU SAY, BUT I WOULD DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT".
@mfa_russiahttps: //t.co/kXx7JtTlHb
- Konstantin Gavrilov (@RusGavrilov) February 13, 2021
"What is the reason?
The fact that at the OSCE seminar on military doctrines Russia voiced an alternative opinion regarding the trends in the current military-political situation in Europe? ”Gavrilov suggested.
“Blocking of official accounts representing the principled position of this or that state is an example of blatant censorship,” the diplomat emphasized.
He also urged the leadership of Twitter to recall the words attributed to the French philosopher Voltaire about the principles of free speech: "I do not share your beliefs, but I am ready to die for your right to express them."
In addition, Gavrilov announced his intention to appeal to the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Helga Schmid.
“Twitter stopped us just without explanation, rude.
We had a lot of tweets there about NATO, military doctrines, and that's the result.
We associate only with this, absolutely, ”RIA Novosti quotes the diplomat.
© @armscontrol_rus
In connection with this situation, the Russian Foreign Ministry also sent a request to Twitter.
Representative of the Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told TASS about it.
“We sent a request to the company.
We hope that this is an exclusively technical problem, ”Zakharova said.
They also expressed their indignation at the blocking in the Russian permanent mission to the OSCE, calling on the representative of the organization on freedom of the media Teresa Ribeiro to comment on the incident.
It should be noted that after the restoration of access to the account, publications were preserved in it.
The last of the recordings made before the blocking was devoted to the speech of Konstantin Gavrilov at the meeting of the OSCE high-level seminar on military doctrines on February 10.
In particular, the head of the Russian delegation said that lately the professional dialogue at the OSCE site "began to be replaced by anti-Russian monologues, and the analysis of the causes of negative trends in the military sphere on the continent and the search for ways to correct them increasingly gave way to confrontational rhetoric."
According to the diplomat, for a number of reasons, including the sanctions policy and anti-Russian rhetoric of the West, representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry for the first time in 30 years did not take part in the OSCE seminar on military doctrines.
Gavrilov added that Moscow has consistently adhered to a course aimed at reducing tensions in Europe.
That is why in the past year the Russian Armed Forces did not conduct large-scale exercises near the borders of NATO member countries, and large-scale actions of troops within the framework of the Caucasus-2020 maneuvers were moved deep into the territory of the Russian Federation.
“In contrast to this, the North Atlantic bloc has become more active in the immediate vicinity of Russia's western borders.
Note that the growth of US and NATO military activity is taking place not somewhere in the Atlantic or the Caribbean, but at a distance of 20-30 km from our territory, ”the diplomat said.
“In this regard, the thesis about“ increased aggressiveness ”on the part of Russia, which is being replicated in NATO, does not correspond to reality and, frankly, is false,” Gavrilov stressed.
He also pointed out that the Russian side has repeatedly proposed to its partners in NATO to discuss measures to reduce tensions, "however, a constructive response to ... the initiative has not been received."
“Compliance with international obligations in the field of arms control is a priority for Russia.
Any claims to the contrary are unfounded, ”the diplomat added.
🌐 @ RusGavrilov: 🇷🇺 # Russia is not aiming at confrontation with NATO and escalating tensions and proceeds from a course aimed at building a constructive dialogue with the bloc and other countries in the interests of ensuring global and regional security. #RussianNATO # Doctrines https://t. co / kUOaoAaz9gpic.twitter.com / GLaygo2rX1
- Russian Arms Control Delegation in Vienna (@armscontrol_rus) February 11, 2021
Tech giants Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have come under increasing criticism lately due to the pervasive practice of blocking accounts and manipulating search results.
Back in April 2020, a number of Russian media outlets, including RT, RIA Novosti, Sputnik and Russia 1, began to report on the restriction of access to certain content from social networks.
In August, Twitter announced the introduction of tags for accounts belonging to diplomatic officials, as well as accounts for government-related media outlets and their senior staff.
Moreover, this measure operates quite selectively.
Thus, many Western media, funded by the government, have not yet received the appropriate notes.
In the fall, the Russian Foreign Ministry and Roskomnadzor announced open censorship against the domestic media by technology platforms.
Later, a law was passed on a set of measures against resources that allow this practice.
A new round of criticism has already emerged in the West - following the blocking of the accounts of the 45th US President Donald Trump and many of his supporters after the events of January 6, 2021, when protesters broke into the Capitol.
Twitter considered that the politician was at risk of "further incitement to violence" and permanently terminated his account.
This example was later followed by many technology companies.
Moreover, not only accounts were disabled, but entire platforms - for example, the Parler microblogging service, which Amazon disconnected from the hosting, and Google and Apple removed from their app stores.