President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the Russian authorities should monitor the activity of ‘some companies’ on social media during next year’s presidential election and assess the extent of their involvement in domestic politics.
He did not name the companies or say if he was concerned about the activities of foreign or local firms, but Russia has been accused by the United States and other Western nations of meddling in their elections.
‘We need to look carefully at how some companies work in internet, in social media, and how widely they are involved in our domestic political life,’ Putin said, speaking at a meeting with leaders in Russia’s parliament about a new ‘foreign agents’ law.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred on Monday from running in next year’s presidential election after officials ruled he was ineligible to take part due to a suspended prison sentence he says was trumped up.
President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the Russian authorities should monitor the activity of ‘some companies’ on social media during next year’s presidential election and assess the extent of their involvement in domestic politics
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (right) was barred on Monday from running in next year’s presidential election after officials ruled he was ineligible to take part due to a suspended prison sentence he says was trumped up. Putin (left) is a firm favourite to be re-elected next year
‘We need to look carefully at how some companies work in internet, in social media, and how widely they are involved in our domestic political life,’ Putin said, speaking at a meeting with leaders in Russia’s parliament about a new ‘foreign agents’ law
Putin signed a law last month allowing the authorities to designate foreign media outlets as ‘foreign agents’ in response to what Moscow said was unacceptable US pressure on Russian media.
Once designated, such firms need to provide details to the authorities on, for example, their sources of funding.
‘It should be carefully analysed how they are operating and will be operating during the presidential election,’ he said, but said this should not ‘narrow the space’ for freedom on the Internet.
Russia has already designated Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA), both US-backed organisations, as ‘foreign agents’.
Polls show Putin, 65, who has dominated Russia’s political landscape for the last 17 years, on course to be comfortably re-elected in March 2018, making him eligible to serve another six years until 2024, when he turns 72.
The Central Election Commission has decided unanimously that anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny (pictured) is not eligible to run
Yesterday, Russian election officials have banned Putin’s main opposition rival from running for president prompting calls for it to be boycotted.
The Central Election Commission decided unanimously that anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny is not eligible to run.
He is implicitly barred from running for office because of a conviction in a fraud case which has been viewed as political retribution.
Navalny, could have run if he was given a special dispensation or if his conviction was quashed.
Over the past year, Navalny has mounted a grassroots campaign which has reached out to the most remote corners of Putin’s heartland.
Navalny is the most serious challenger that Putin has faced in all his years in power, and the court cases against him have been viewed as a tool to keep him from running for office.
In a pre-recorded messaged that was released minutes after the Election Commission handed down the decision, Navalny called on his supporters to boycott the vote.