Russia threatens ban if Twitter doesn't remove child porn

FPI / March 21, 2021

Russia is giving Twitter 30 days to remove illegal content, including child pornography, or be banned from the country.

Vadim Subbotin, deputy head of Roskomnadzor, Russia’s equivalent of the FCC, said Twitter was not reacting to requests to remove illegal content “as they should,” and that the social network would be blocked in Russia if its failure to comply continues.

Along with child pornography, Russia said other illegal content on Twitter included information on committing suicide, and drug-related content.

"Twitter is not reacting to our requests as they should. If the situation carries on then it will be blocked in a month without a court order," Subbotin said.

Twitter is also being sued in Russia for failing to remove posts encouraging children to join protests against President Vladimir Putin. Russian laws specifically prohibit children from attending protests.

Putin's government, as well as jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, have expressed concern about Silicon Valley’s interference in politics.

The Russian government said the decision of social media companies to ban President Donald Trump in January was a “nuclear blast in cyberspace,” and a “blow against the democratic values proclaimed by the west,” while Navalny called it an “unacceptable act of censorship.”

Milwaukee judge, a longtime LGBTQ activist, arrested on child pornography charges

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Brett Blomme has been charged with 7 counts of possession of child pornography, the state Department of Justice announced.

Blomme is currently assigned to Milwaukee County Children's Court.

Blomme, 38, was taken into custody by special agents with the state Division of Criminal Investigation "following an investigation into multiple uploads of child pornography through a Kik messaging application account in October and November 2020," according to a statement.

A 44-page search warrant filed by a DCI special agent said investigators found Blomme had uploaded 27 videos and images containing child pornography. Two of the files were uploaded at a Milwaukee County government building, the search warrant said.

The special agent sought permission to search Blomme's courtroom, chambers, houses in Milwaukee and Dane counties and his 2017 Audi.

The Milwaukee Sentinel Journal reported: Before being elected, Blomme was the head of the board of zoning appeals for the City of Milwaukee, appointed to the post by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, and head of the Cream City Foundation, which provides grant money to LGBTQ groups in the Milwaukee area. A longtime LGBTQ activist, Blomme previously was director of major gifts at the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin for 18 months, following a stint at the Madison City Attorney's Office. From 2011 to 2015, he practiced criminal defense with the State Public Defender's Office.

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