Twitter's "Darth Putin" returns after disappearance
MOSCOW - A pair of twitter accounts mocking Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appear to have gone dark for a brief time this week, raising the outrage of social media users.
Several Twitter accounts similar to DarthPutinKGB and SovietSergey became unavailable for a time starting on Tuesday. So far the social media company has not explained their disappearance.
The parody Putin account had attracted more than 50,000 followers before it was shut down. The link to the account said it was suspended for a time Tuesday. Lavrov's parody account along with two others mocking the Russian Embassy in London and the Russian ambassador were restored and available to users after a reported suspension on Tuesday. The account for Darth Putin was active again on Wednesday.
Arriving at Athens today:
— Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) May 27, 2016
Customs: Name?
Me: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
Customs: Occupation?
Me: No, this time i'm just here for 2 days
We deny being aware of #MH17 lawsuit. Just like we deny knowing anything about the Buk missile system which we deny operating.
— Soviet Sergey (@SovietSergey) May 23, 2016
Had homemade vodka at the Embassy 👊 pic.twitter.com/UlEQXMZAuk
— Cool Yakovenko (@AmbYakovenkoNot) May 19, 2016
The worst thing about a hangover in this place is really wanting a hot tea but not knowing which is safe to drink
— That Embassy in UK (@RusEmbassyNot) May 29, 2016
Social media users launched the #NoGulagForDarthPutinKGB hashtag on Twitter in protest.
Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, an avid social media user, condemned the suspension, calling it "one of the funniest parody accounts around."
The Kremlin has taken aggressive steps against its critics in both the traditional media and social media. At least 54 people were sent to prison for hate speech last year, most of them for sharing and posting things online, which is almost five times as many as five years ago, according to the Moscow-based Sova group, which studies human rights, nationalism and xenophobia in Russia.