Roskomnadzor Partially Lifts Slowdown In Twitter Traffic

Roskomnadzor Partially Lifts Slowdown in Twitter Traffic

Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor said it praised Twitter's efforts to comply with the requirements of Russian legislation and decided not to block this social network and even partially remove restrictions, keeping traffic slowdown only on mobile devices

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2021) Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor said it praised Twitter's efforts to comply with the requirements of Russian legislation and decided not to block this social network and even partially remove restrictions, keeping traffic slowdown only on mobile devices.

Since March 10, Roskomnadzor has slowed down the speed of Twitter in Russia for all mobile devices and half of stationary devices and threatened to block it completely if the internet service does not begin to comply with the requirements of Russian laws. In late April, the department notified the management of the social network about the need to remove all prohibited information by May 15.

"Based on the results of the audit, taking into account the efforts made by the administration of the social network, it was decided not to block the Twitter service, remove access restrictions on fixed networks (respectively, associated Wi-Fi networks), while maintaining the slowdown of Twitter traffic on mobile devices," the statement says.

As of March 10, Roskomnadzor demanded that the social network remove more than 4,100 prohibited materials identified since 2017, including 3,100 materials with child pornography, narcotic, and suicidal content. Since the beginning of the slowdown in traffic, about 1,800 new prohibited materials have been identified.

"The check showed that Twitter moderators removed over 91 percent of prohibited information. At the moment, 563 messages with child pornography, narcotic and suicidal content, calls for minors to participate in unauthorized mass events, as well as extremist and other materials prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation," it said.

In addition, Roskomnadzor noted that it had received a letter from the management of Twitter with promises to take all necessary measures to remove socially dangerous content. The company expressed its readiness and interest in building a constructive dialogue and asked not to block the social network, as well as to remove the current restrictions on its work.

"The agency positively assesses the efforts of Twitter to comply with the requirements of Russian legislation. At the same time, in order to completely remove the imposed restrictions on Twitter, it is necessary to remove all identified prohibited materials, as well as bring the response time to the agency's requirements in line with Russian standards (no later than 24 hours after receiving the request)," Roskomnadzor said.