Russia has threatened to block Twitter within 30 days unless the site acts to remove what the government refers to as 'banned content'. Russia has also railed against social media sites for censoring state-controlled media such as RT, which have been branded propaganda sites by foreign governments. Back in January, Putin personally accused social media giants in January of 'controlling society' and 'restricting the right to freely express viewpoints.' He uses the sites to bypass Russian censors which have banned him from TV and the airwaves, and promote anti-corruption investigations into Putin. Vladimir Putin last year signed a further array of laws giving Russia new powers to restrict US social media giants that 'discriminate' against its media.

Source: Daily Mail March 16, 2021 14:40 UTC