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Updated September 19th, 2021 at 16:21 IST

Kremlin rivals accuse major social media platforms of 'censorship' in Russian elections

Alexei Navalny's allies accused social media platforms like YouTube and Telegram of censorship after both restricted access to anti-government voting guidance.

Reported by: Dipaneeta Das
Alexei Navalny
IMAGE: AP (representative) | Image:self
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Russian jailed opposition Alexei Navalny's allies accused social media platforms like YouTube and Telegram of censorship after both restricted access to anti-government voting guidance. The accusations came after Navalny's Smart Voting mobile application was removed from Apple and Google stores just ahead of the Russian elections on September 17, Friday. According to BBC, Google Docs was also down for several hours after over 146 million Russians began voting.

Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh, calling it a "disgrace," has condemned the move by the social media platforms. "It's a real disgrace when the censorship is imposed by private companies that allegedly defend the ideas of freedom," Yarmysh wrote on Twitter.

She also indicated that the move was allegedly backed by Kremlin's authorities. Meanwhile, Navalny's political ally Ivan Zhdanov also criticised Telegram for its decision to ban political campaigns.

Social media platforms and stores takedown "anti-government voting recommendations"

The Kremlin critics also suggested that YouTube took down one of their videos that projected 225 candidates from their lobby of the Russian election. "The video presentation of the smart voting recommendations for the constituencies with the nastiest has also been removed," Navalny's allies said in a statement.

Russian communication regulator Roskinnadzor also threatened companies like Google and Apple to be slapped with hefty fines in case they contributed to "systematic violation" of the Russian electoral process. The Russian government also stated that failure to remove the Smart Voting mobile App would be considered "illegal interference in Russian election", an act that would criminal prosecution against the respective tech companies.

Telegram and Google respond to "censorship" allegations

Meanwhile, Telegram's founder Pavel Durov responded to the allegations by saying that the social media platform decided to ban election content once the poll began. He also asserted that the rule is "legitimate" and similar to the ones observed in many other countries.

On the other hand, the incumbent Russian government had asked Google to take down anti-government voting suggestions by Navalny's allies, however, the US-based company, in turn, raised the concern with Navalny's team. Following the incident, Durov mentioned that he was "more vulnerable" to the government's pressure since Telegram was widely used in Russia.

Kremlin conducted the biggest crackdown ahead of the ongoing elections

As per reports from the media, Kremlin has conducted the biggest domestic crackdown on Vladimir Putin's critics just ahead of the ongoing elections. This is led to a surprising precedent of the United Russia Party's ruling despite slug in pre-poll ratings. Meanwhile, the incumbent government has continued crackdown against the top media houses under the 2017 Russian Law.

Image: AP (representative)

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Published September 19th, 2021 at 16:21 IST

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