Russia Backs Down Over Threat To Block Twitter, Says They’ve Sped Up In The Removal Of Some Contents

Russia has been reported to have backed off a threat to block Twitter inc as the microblogging site has sped up its efforts to remove content that’s deemed illegal by local regulators.

Internet watchdogs, Roskomnadzor made it known in a statement on Monday that Twitter had a video conference with Russian regulators on April 1 and it’s now deleting content that was said to promote illegal activity at a faster rate.

What raised fears of tighter control over the internet was last month as the regulator made content on Twitter slower to load as they threatened to fully block the service within a month if they refuse to delete flagged content.

The internet watchdogs Roskomnadzor stated that the slowdown will be extended until May 15 to give Twitter the time to remove additional content.

Twitter earlier expressed concerns about attempts to throttle online conversations noting that it did not allow its platform to be used to promote illegal activities.

The Russian government has ratcheted up pressure on social media over posts that promoted protests on the jailing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny this year