The late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnya, was briefly banned from Twitter/X for what Musk’s company calls a rule violation. T
His suspension happened the day after Navalny and her team released a YouTube video blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for her husband’s murder and requesting that his remains be returned to his family. Without explanation, the social media site suspended Navalnya’s account and displayed the following message: “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules.”
News anchor Jake Tapper of CNN posed the question “Why?” to Twitter/X owner Elon Musk, echoing the sentiments of many other users. The social media network that Musk purchased in late 2022 has been accused of facilitating the dissemination of Russian propaganda and misinformation, and he has been attacked for what seems to be an apparent apologia for Putin. To this day, Musk maintains that he had no intention of turning Twitter/X into a “free speech zone” since he felt it was suppressing some right-wing opinions.
Navalnaya has a history of opposing Putin. Dmitry Peskov called her accusations against Putin “unfounded” and “insolent,” and she has accused him of murdering her spouse.
Before his 2021 return to Russia from Germany for treatment of nerve agent poisoning, Navalny and his inner team had deliberated about the danger to his life at length; however, Navalnaya still considered it a big decision to carry on her husband’s business. She served as “the rock” upon whom Navalny depended throughout their marriage. They had an understanding about keeping Navalnaya out of the spotlight and out of politics.
Knowing it would be impossible to be seen as a genuine opposition leader abroad, Navalny returned to Russia from Germany. Because of safety concerns, his widow is not going to Russia, and she now has to figure out how to run her husband’s company from outside.
In recent years, Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation made waves in both independent Russian media and Western media for its polished movies that elevated mundane corruption probes to the status of online sensations.
Meeting Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, head of the Belarusian opposition, on Friday, just after the news of Navalny’s death spread, had an eerie similarity for her. In 2020, after her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski’s incarceration in the months leading up to Belarus’s presidential election, Tsikhanouskaya became the political opposition leader.
