Putin says US social media giants are competing with governments

LONDON – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday criticized the growing influence of social media giants in the United States, saying their impact on society means they are now able to compete with elected governments.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum for the first time since 2009, Putin discussed a wide range of topics, including the coronavirus pandemic, his recent phone call with President Joe Biden and global economic inequality.

Putin made no mention of the Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny, who was arrested as soon as he returned to Russia earlier this month, after being treated in Germany after nerve poisoning. Putin denies Navalny’s claims that the Russian president ordered the attempt on his life.

“Digital giants have played an increasingly significant role in society at large,” Putin said by videoconference, according to a translation.

“Now we are talking about economic giants, aren’t we? In certain areas, they are competing with states and their audience may include millions and millions of users,” he said, citing recent events in US politics.

“Here is the question: how well does this monopolism correlate with the public interest?”

Putin did not specifically cite any technology companies.

His comments on recent political events in the U.S. ostensibly referred to social media companies like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, imposing a ban on former President Donald Trump after his supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

More recently, Alphabet’s Google said it would block its search engine for users in Australia if the government moves forward with plans to introduce a new code that requires Facebook to pay media companies for the right to use its content.

The dispute is another in the growing attempts to regulate Big Tech.

Strained relations between Russia and the United States deteriorated after a massive cyber attack on federal agencies, interference in the United States elections and Navalny’s arrest.

In April 2019, Special Adviser Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference found that Russia’s Internet Research Agency reached millions of American social media users before the 2016 presidential election and used its fake accounts to influence voters and even take them to manufactured rallies.

Putin’s comments at the Davos Agenda summit come as Western government officials are considering the possibility of further sanctions against Moscow for Navalny’s arrest.

In a challenging challenge to Putin, mass demonstrations in more than 100 cities over the weekend saw tens of thousands of people protest against the arrest of the opposition leader.

Navalny’s allies called for more protests in the coming days to maintain pressure on the Kremlin.

Foreign ministers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, as well as the high representative of the European Union, condemned Navalny’s arrest “for political reasons”.

The group also called for Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release and expressed “deep concern over the arrest of thousands of protesters and journalists.”

In response to calls for Navalny’s urgent release from detention, the Kremlin previously said that Navalny’s case has received “artificial” resonance in the West.

Biden spoke to Putin on Tuesday for the first time since his inauguration earlier this month. He raised a number of issues with the Russian president, including Navalny’s poisoning.

Biden warned Putin that the United States “will act strongly to defend its national interests in response to Russia’s actions that harm us or our allies,” according to a White House statement.

Navalny, widely considered Putin’s most prominent and determined critic, was arrested by Russian authorities on January 17, when his flight from Berlin landed at a Moscow airport.

He was later sentenced to be held for 30 days until February 15 and faces the prospect of years in prison.

It was the first time that Navalny returned to the country since he was poisoned last summer.

In his speech, Putin also warned that the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing global problems and imbalances, and that they could deteriorate to the point that there is an “all against all” struggle.