International social media giants hurt their own reputation when they join the forces with the foreign governments to exert pressure on Russian-linked media, the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
“Many large companies which offer social media services and, let’s say, other digital formats, are recruited by the authorities of unfriendly nations to be used as tools to apply pressure on Russian media,” Peskov told reporters on Monday.
At the same time he advised people not to rush to conclusions regarding the recent takedown of Russian-linked pages by Facebook. “We must get an explanation first,” Peskov stressed. “We know that [Russian outlets] had repeatedly managed to defend their rights.”
Maffick Media, which operated the deleted pages, slammed the takedown as “unprecedented censorship in a desperate attempt to milk ratings by stoking hysteria over Russia.”
Russian media is targeted because it is popular with audiences in the West, Russian lawmaker Vladimir Jabarov said. Unable to challenge these outlets “in the field of information,” the critics “resort to dirty methods,” the politician who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee in the upper house of parliament, noted.