REPOST - TWITTER WAS ALWAYS NAZI FRIENDLY - Russian Embassy demands war crimes, Twitter doesn't mind (Drunk ambassador and nuke threat updates)
Then again they have blue ticks
13 November 2024 - Repost because the world has gone to shit. As a reminder Twitter was also a force for evil before Musk.
It took Twitter until January 8th 2021 to permanently suspend President Donald Trump. The platform had arguably propelled him to the presidency and was his basic form of communicating with his supporters and opponents during his election run and then the presidency. The Capitol Riots of 6th January 2021 were a belated wake-up call for Twitter. According to Twitter, the two tweets that led to his permanent ban were treated as violations of Twitter’s Glorification Of Violence policy. Twitter reacted arguably too late to Trump’s behaviour, for a variety of legal, reputational and economic (engagement) reasons. His last tweets are mild in comparison to previous tweets and though they may have broken the proverbial camel’s back, they were not particularly egregious.
We come to 2022. Since the start of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine, which is increasingly being called clearly genocidal, Russia’s representatives formal and informal have been engaging in increasingly violent speech on Twitter. This is ironic because Russia blocked access to Twitter on 4 March 2022 because of “discrimination against Russian media and information resources.”, particularly by blocking Russian state television RT and its foreign service Sputnik. That blocking move by Twitter was wise on Twitter’s side but it’s current tolerance of Russia’s increasingly violent and illegal rhetoric makes a farce of Twitter’s own policies. [links]
In fact, Twitter may be facing criminal and not only civil and administrative liability soon because of its tolerance of Russian illegal rhetoric.
Social media has played an important role in allowing the Russian officials and institutions to prove their genocidal intent, Telegram is a particularly vital source, including former president’s Mevdedev demented June 15th 2022 post: "And who said that Ukraine would exist on the world map?" Russian social media content is doubtless being collected as evidence by the International Criminal Court, Bellingcat, Ukrainian institutions and others. Any Nuremberg Trials for Russians would have significantly less issue with proving intent, there may even be too many smoking guns.
On the 28th of July a video allegedly of Wagner mercenaries costarring and executing a POW began circulating on Russian social media. One of the perpetrators has been convincingly identified. On the 29th an explosion killed 40 Ukrainian POWs with Russia alleging a Ukrainian rocket (Himars) attack while Ukraine and some observers more convincingly called it a Russian war crime – the murder of POWs.
In the terrible context of these events, the Twitter Account of the Russian Embassy(@russianembassy) in the UK posted a tweet saying: “💬#Azov militants deserve execution, but death not by firing squad but by hanging, because they’re not real soldiers. They deserve a humiliating death.”. A video by alleged Mariupol residents was included.
This tweet has been labeled as “hateful conduct” by Twitter but remains up and the embassy account is posting without apparent difficult. The pinned tweet on the Russian account is a false accusation of Ukrainian genocide. The account’s recent activity includes a tweet: “We have numerously urged #UK officials to refrain from insulting and escalatory rhetoric intended to camouflage their own foreign policy failings.” and a series of tweets blaming the Ukrainians for the murder of the Ukrainian POWs. In fact the account itself is an active stream of hateful rhetoric, historical lies and Lavrov diplomatic lies. The context of this tweet is particularly terrible, we have just seen the torture murder of an Ukrainian while 50 of his brother-in-arms were killed in an action which I assume was a Russian false flag operation.
Even if the Embassy tweet calling for the execution of ‘Azov militants’ was based on the real unforced opinions of Mariupol residents, just posting the content would constitute a hate crime in many Western jurisdictions. A person cannot be legally absolved of quoting hate content except in mitigating circumstances such as comment or criticism. I do not believe that the ‘quoted’ ‘residents’ were either quoted or real residents of Mariupol. The quote fits nicely into the genocidal rhetoric prevalent on Russian social media and even on television. The ‘residents’ may be actors or may be forced into making their statement. Regardless, even a real, unforced and unsuggested quote would likely be in this context treated as the quoting party’s (institution’s) own views or approved by them.
Most of the rest of the world does not operate with America’s free speech rights with their 1st amendment basis. The Russian embassy’s tweet violates laws around the world as it calls for murder of POWs, in breach of normal criminal law and of special protections under the Hague and Geneva conventions. Azovstal defenders are not franc-tireurs to be murdered by Germans out of hand as in 1871. Even as far back as World War One and the Leipzig trials of German soldiers; the murder of POWs was treated a particularly grievous offense. In 1932, Raphael Lemkin, author of the legal term genocide, wrote a provision of Polish criminal law which made advocating for aggressive war, a crime under art. 113. At the Nuremberg trials, the Soviet judge, Iona Nikitchenko, was infuriated by the acquittal of a German radio broadcaster Hans Fritzsche, standing in for a dead Goebbels, for spreading war propaganda. I will quote his dissenting opinion: “The basic method of the Nazi propagandistic activity lay in the false presentation of facts.” He was right. Ironically this Soviet judge, a Moscow purge show trial prosecutor whose closest colleagues been personally critical of Lemkin and his highly critical commentary on Soviet laws. Speaking of Russian law, it is an offense under article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code to inciting hatred. Of course Russia still suffers from the legal nihilism that Lemkin criticized, Lemkin’s criticism would have earned him a bullet in the head at Katyn or a kicking to death in a NKVD cell.
I will now veer into issues of law which merit a PhD on one tweet but the basics are simple. There is no ‘quote’ defense for the authors of the tweet on the side of the Russian embassy. The existence of a ‘safe harbor’ for Twitter, especially outside of the USA, not to delete the tweet and permanently ban the account is highly doubtful. Twitter itself has labelled the tweet as hateful speech – the company cannot claim ignorance of the content and context. This tweet has been recorded and will doubtless play a role in proving intent for proceedings relating to Russian war crimes. At this time though it is just a filthy call to action with no legitimate to exist, especially in light of Twitter’s policies. Twitter is also risking liability as a forum for Russian hate speech. The legal arguments are both complex and simple. The complex arguments relating to safe harbor provisions, free speech and forum liability do not however change or obscure the simple argument that Twitter is liable, perhaps even in the USA, for this utterly illegal content. I call upon Twitter to:
Remove the tweet of July 29th 2022. It has been recorded by investigators public and private and its presence on the net serves no purpose,
Permanently ban the Russian Embassy UK’s account. This would remove a stream of particularly vile Russian content as well as serving as a belated warning. The embassy can function perfectly well with a Twitter account, which only serves to spread Russian propaganda and lies, like the Nazi Fritszche did in his time,
Place a prior approval for tweets mechanism on all Russian state-affiliated accounts or permanent ban them.
I however despair of Twitter doing any of the above because the simple fact is that hate speech drives engagement and Twitter can hide behind public service saying that they are providing a benefit allowing the Russians to openly prove their intent and responsibility for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. However it is economics that is playing a role here. Twitter will not institute a prior approval mechanism because that would also cost significant money and they would also argue that any illegal tweets that did get through the approval mechanism, would incur increased liability for Twitter. The same freedom of speech, public service and cost arguments were rolled out for Donald Trump. His violent rhetoric ended with the Capitol riots and nearly successful coup. Russian rhetoric is a thousand times more dangerous, it glorifies and promotes genocide, war crimes and atrocities.
On the US government side, I call upon this tweet to form a basis of further sanctions on the Russia state which espouses and practices violence against POWs. In particular the United States should apply pressure to the International Committee of the Red Cross to increase its supervision of Ukrainian POWs who are being murdered and their murder is incited on Russian channels. The ICRC terribly failed the murdered Ukrainian POWs. I also appeal to the United Kingdom, of which I am also a citizen, to expel the Russian ambassador who bears direct responsibility for this tweet.
Update: 19 August
I submitted this article to two journals before posting it here. It was written during some nasty personal circumstances.
I knew there would be consequences for Twitter’s nonchalant and overly tolerant attitude towards Russian institutions who only use Twitter to spread abuse and lies.
So within a week of my setting up Substack we get this:
Russia is genocidal.
As Dr Garner notes the ambassador may have been drunk. But the Romans and others had a saying, in vino veritas. You blurt out what you think while drunk.
Twitter, this is much worse than Trump or January 6th. Ban or moderate all Russian entities, especially their ‘diplomats’.
Update one:
PS Russia doesn’t have diplomat it has legalized spies. My upcoming book contains a quote from Victor Suvorov. He was a legalized spy. Who despite being a ‘diplomat’, a soldier and an extremely intelligent and educated man didn’t know the content of the Geneva Conventions because they USSR had them in contempt.
This ambassador has famously (drunkenly) engaged with the ‘CIA teenager pedohpiles’ of #NAFO aka shitposting adults with families who troll Russians both on the internet and by donating money towards lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine.
Update two:
Now they threaten nuke war.
Update three 21 November 2022
Trump is back and the UK embassy is spouting vile antisemitic filth. Because Musk is a bro useful idiot. I am considering taking him to court.
Update four - 23 November 2022
Sigh. Sign up to get the news three months early.