Russia's Foreign Ministry claims Twitter blocked its English handle for 7 days since Aug 5

As the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv continues unabated, the Russian Foreign Ministry has accused microblogging site Twitter of blocking its official English handle since August 5. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that the US-based social network company has taken this decision in an attempt to "shut up Russia's mouth." This comes as Russia continues to invade Ukraine, and the ravaging war between two nations has been continuing for well over five months now.

"On August 5, the administration of the Twitter platform blocked the official account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in English for seven days. The reason was the publication of excerpts from a briefing by Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical & Biological Defence Forces, on US military biological activities," Zakharova wrote on Telegram. According to her, the post with a quote from the Department of Defence about the possibility that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was involved in the emergence of a new coronavirus invited such a strong reaction from Twitter. 

Russia hits out at Twitter for blocking the Foreign Minister's handle

"It is doubtful that Twitter has sufficient competence to question the conclusions of the Ministry of Defence, based on work with documents and fresh data. There is another clumsy attempt to shut us up," the Russian spokeswoman noted. Zakharova emphasised that Russia is the first country to be subject to this kind of sanctions. "It happened that they blocked individual tweets, but to block, even for a week, the official account of the foreign policy department of one of the leading countries in the world - this is beyond good and evil," she remarked. 

Russia says American digital platforms have evolved into 'Washington's tools'

Zakharova also pointed out that it is no longer necessary to spread information via American digital platforms, which have evolved into "Washington's tools." She also slammed the microblogging site for violating the principle of freedom of speech by choosing to block accounts at its own whims and fancies. "This platform has long stagnated. The users no longer trust it as a large number of them have already left the platform. Of course, it is possible to block us, but the truth will still find its way in," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova concluded.

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