St. Petersburg deputies en masse deleted their social media pages…
St. Petersburg deputies en masse deleted their social media pages and renamed their Telegram channels. The mass exodus of deputies (and candidates for deputy positions) from social media began in the evening of August 4, according to 'Rotonda'.
Consensus
- On the evening of August 4, deputies and candidates in Saint Petersburg began deleting or renaming their social media accounts.
- The changes included renaming Telegram channels and removing or closing VK pages.
- Some deputies removed their profile pictures from their channels.
- Spiker of the Legislative Assembly Alexander Belinsky stated that there was a series of coordinated attacks on official deputy accounts.
- The actions were taken to prevent malicious actors from publishing false information under the deputies' names.
- The changes affected multiple parties, including United Russia, New People, and LDPR.
- The decision to delete or rename accounts was made by the deputies themselves.
Points of divergence
- Deputies may return to traditional campaign methods such as leaflets, newspapers, and door-to-door canvassing. — gazeta_spb
- Some candidates received a call from 'above' warning them, possibly to prevent lawsuits related to social media use. — meduza
- One source claimed candidates received a call from 'above' suggesting they were being protected from lawsuits over social media use. — fontanka
- A deputy reported receiving a call from Moscow instructing them to disconnect from social media, citing possible 'attacks' before elections. — novaya_eu
- A source claimed the call from Moscow was vague, with no explanation given, and suggested the action was linked to the cases of Yaroslav Kostrov and Ivan Apostolevsky. — tvrain
- A source claimed the call from Moscow was unclear, with no explanation provided, and suggested the action was related to previous cases involving extremist symbolism. — tg_tvrain
- Pavel Krupevnik, leader of United Russia's faction, claimed he was threatened with blackmail and DDoS attacks, which led him to close his accounts. — meduza
- Representatives of Yury Kulikov linked the actions to the court case that canceled his candidacy due to music copyright issues. — novaya_eu
Coverage (9 sources)
- Deputies deleted social networks and may return to leaflets and newspapers - SPB Newspaper - St. Petersburg news — Gazeta.SPb
- Vitaly Vybor Millions, For St. Petersburg, Transport SPb — thus now are named the Telegram channels of St. Petersburg politicians. They massively rename them before elections. And the speaker of the legislative assembly even deleted the channel in Max — Meduza
- «Electorates will find us themselves». St. Petersburg deputies — about why they deleted their social networks during elections — Фонтанка
- St. Petersburg deputies mass-deleted or renamed pages on social networks. In the Duma, this was explained as "attacks on accounts" — Новая газета Европа
- Mass removal of pages in social networks of deputies of the ZakS is linked to hacking - Gazeta SPB RU - news of St. Petersburg — Gazeta.SPb
- St. Petersburg deputies en masse deleted their social media pages and renamed Telegram channels — Дождь
- Deputies of St. Petersburg switched to "invisible" mode before elections - SPB Newspaper - St. Petersburg news — Gazeta.SPb
- St. Petersburg deputies have massively deleted their pages from social networks and renamed their Telegram channels — Дождь (Telegram)
- Deputies and pro-government candidates from St. Petersburg began renaming and deleting their social media pages — Фонтанка
Key entities
- Saint Petersburg
- State Duma
- VKontakte
- Vitaliy Milonov
- Max
- United Russia
- Legislative Assembly
- SPB RU News Newspaper
- Vladimir Omel'nytsky
- Alexey Tsiviliev
- Vitaly Vybor Millions
- Transport St. Petersburg
- Telegram
- Fontanka