Ukrainian official alleges conspiracy on Twitter – RT World News

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podoliak has blasted Twitter owner Elon Musk as a sympathizer of Russian propagandists, accusing the billionaire entrepreneur of “reduce by force” the reach of Kyiv government accounts on the social media platform.

“Perhaps you should stop pessimizing Ukrainian official accounts and forcibly narrowing their reach”, Podoliak told Musk on Wednesday in a post on Twitter. “It’s too obvious.”

Presidential adviser Vladimir Zelensky went on to suggest that Musk tried to help “without talent” purveyors of Russian propaganda. “It won’t help them, and Twitter’s reputation is dying,” Podoliak claimed. “Maybe a regulator is needed to explain the competition rules to the owner.”

It’s unclear which regulatory agency Podoliak wants to unleash on Musk or which antitrust law he supposedly violated. Many Twitter users have been complaining in recent days about declining reach and engagement for their posts. The company’s engineers are reportedly working to fix an issue that apparently arose when the platform changed some of its features last month.

Musk provided Ukraine with free use of its Starlink satellite communications service after Russia launched its military offensive against kyiv last year. Media outlets, including The Economist, have credited Musk’s satellites with having “saved Ukraine and changed the war.” However, Zelensky’s regime has clashed with Tesla’s CEO, such as when Musk suggested last October that the conflict could be ended by offering concessions such as allowing UN-monitored secession elections in breakaway regions.

“F**k off is my very diplomatic response to you,” Andrey Melnik, then Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, responded to Musk. “The only result is that now no Ukrainian will ever buy your f**king Tesla crap.”

Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October, promising to make it a bastion of free speech. But he also made enemies on the Russian side of the conflict. Vladimir Solovyov, a prominent Russian TV host, recently denounced the owner of Twitter as a “war criminal” for his support of the Ukrainian army.

Podoliak is used to making unsubstantiated allegations, such as his assertion last week that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) received bribes from Russia for “promoting genocide”. He made the accusation after the IOC floated the idea of ​​allowing Russian athletes to resume competitions. In December, he accused Twitter of hiding trends related to the Ukraine crisis, seemingly dismissing the possibility that public interest in the conflict had waned.