RALEIGH COUNTY, WV (WVNS)– As social media continues to play a role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many are questioning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s access to social media.

While the Russian President does not have a personal account, the government account and certain Russian state media accounts remain active as of Friday, March 4, 2022.

According to the U.S. State Departments website, Russian state media has spread a false narrative on more than one occasion The critique comes as former President Donald Trump remains banned from Twitter and Facebook due to similar accusations of breaking community guidelines. This leaves many people questioning if and how online platforms should manage world leaders in the age of internet warfare.

“When we have a totalitarian government invading Ukraine they very much want to keep information under wraps and that information is getting out because of the Ukrainian citizens on social media. But, these social media organizations do also have to eventually make the decision to silence voices that are harmful.

Dr. Jimmy Ivory – Virginia Tech

In a statement on their website Twitter says in part:

“Twitter’s purpose is to serve the public conversation. Violence, harassment and other similar types of behavior discourage people from expressing themselves, and ultimately diminish the value of global public conversation.”

We reached out to Twitter specifically regarding Russian Governmental and state media accounts and as of March 4, 2022 we have yet to hear back.

Twitter Rules and Policies website