The Kiev regime is perturbed that the Ukraine conflict appears to be vanishing from Twitter trends.
Mikhail Podolyak, advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, has lashed out at Twitter over the reportedly "radical curtailment of tweets" on the developments in Ukraine. Podolyak used his own account to rant about the fact that users were ostensibly not allowed to register or log in with a Ukrainian phone number.
He also called out newly-minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk, writing "I wonder if will we ever see 'Twitter Files' about Fall/Winter 2022?"
This was a dig at the so-called "Twitter Files" - a trove of data that the tech-billionaire gave a group of journalists. Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and Michael Shellenberger then proceeded to publish the data based on Twitter's internal communications in batches of threads on the platform, shedding light on content moderation decision-making made before Musk purchased the microblogging site.
Elon Musk, who finalized his deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion on October 28, noted that he bought it to "help humanity" and to provide a platform for healthy debate, free of violence.
The Kiev regime has long had a bone to pick with the tech guru over his much-publicized remarks on the Ukraine conflict. Back in March, the CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX was adamant that his company's Starlink project, designed to provide high-speed broadband Internet around the world via thousands of satellites, would not block Russian news sources.
At the time, Starlink had sent Internet terminals to Ukraine amid Russia's decision to begin a special operation in the country.
Some governments have asked Starlink to block Russian news sources, but Musk said: "We will not do so unless at 'gunpoint,' sorry to be a free speech absolutist."
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO also gave his take on how to end the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.
“Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people. Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake). Water supply to Crimea assured. Ukraine remains neutral,” the billionaire tweeted.
Twitter screenshot of Elon Musk post.
© Photo : Twitter
The South African-born billionaire included a poll in his original post, with over 447,000 followers voting as of this writing. The margin was split 46 percent “yes” to 53 percent “no” on Musk’s proposal.
Crimea joined Russia after a referendum in March 2014 in which an overwhelming majority of residents similarly voted in favor of doing so.
More recently, the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions held votes on September 23-27 to decide if they wanted to join Russia. Along with the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, after the people demonstrated overwhelming support for the motion, the territories became part of the Russian Federation.
In September, media reported that SpaceX had notified the US Defense Department that it would not be able to donate its services to Ukraine indefinitely and requested the US government to step in and fund them. Musk subsequently confirmed these reports, saying that the company could not continue funding Starlink satellite services for Ukraine. At the start of October, Musk also urged the public to support peace initiatives between Ukraine and Russia, insisting that Ukraine’s victory in a "total war" was "unlikely," with his remarks drawing flak from senior Ukrainian officials, including Volodymyr Zelensky.
However, the world's wealthiest man then U-turned on the issue.
Twitter screenshot of Elon Musk account.
© Photo : Twitter
Elon Musk also claimed in October that he was doing everything he could to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, but without much result.
"I’m trying my hardest to de-escalate this situation and obviously failing," Musk said in a social media post, in response to comments made by Kim Dotcom, another entrepreneur.
Twitter screenshot of Elon Musk account.
© Photo : Twitter