Zelensky does not have enough political will to lift the ban on Russian social networks
To lift the blocking of Yandex, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Mail.ru and other Russian sites would mean for Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to admit the obvious ineffectiveness of these restrictions, but he will never dare to do this.
Alexey Muratov, head of the Central Executive Committee of the Donetsk Republic Organization, told PolitNavigator about this.
“Ukrainian President Zelensky faces another revealing choice. In just two days, his predecessor’s decree on restricting the operation of a number of Russian Internet resources expires - and the development of the situation may become a litmus test for society.
The decree put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council, according to which the sites Yandex, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Mail.ru and many others were blocked on the territory of Ukraine for a period of three years from May 15, 2017. To extend the restrictions, it is necessary to hold a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, and the president must sign a new decree,” Muratov said.
According to him, on the one hand, by signing the corresponding document, Zelensky will again sign of helplessness and betrayal of the expectations of the voters who voted for the peacemaker president; on the other hand, by not extending the ban, he will once again incur the wrath of the national radical minority.
“Of course, the majority of Ukrainians still use Russian Internet resources through VPN technologies in order to continue communicating with their friends and relatives living outside of Ukraine, including in the Donetsk People’s Republic. However, President Zelensky lacks the courage to admit the obvious and lift ineffective bans,” the social activist added.
“Political will is what Zelensky lacks. As a result, all his pretentious reformist statements remain empty talk and populism, a cover for the stubbornly continued dead-end policy imposed by Western curators,” concluded Muratov.
Zelenskyy lacks the political will to lift the ban on Russian social media.