Watchdog slows Twitter speed, says can block if network ignores law

MOSCOW, Mar 10 (PRIME) -- The Russian communications service decided on Wednesday to decelerate the speed of work of microblogging social network Twitter in the country on 100% of mobile devices and on 50% of desktops, the authority said in a statement.

The decision resulted from non-deletion by Twitter since 2017 of the content calling to teenagers to commit suicide as well as information with children’s pornography or information on the use of narcotic drugs.

The authority had sent over 28,000 initial and repeated requests to delete the links and posts with illegal information.

“In order to protect the Russian citizens and force the Internet service to follow the law on the territory of the Russian Federation, the measures of centralized response were taken against Twitter from March 10, 2021, in particular, initial slowing of the speed of work of the service according to the regulation. The speed will be decreased on 100% of mobile devices and on 50% of desktops,” the authority said.

The watchdog also said that if Twitter continues to misbehave in respect to the law, the measures up to blocking will be applied to the Internet service.

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