• The suspension of Yulia Navalnaya’s social media account by platform X, formerly Twitter, sparked controversy after she accused Putin of her husband’s murder.
  • Despite the restoration of her account following user backlash, owner Elon Musk has yet to comment on the incident.
  • Musk’s recent posts regarding Russia suggest support for peace negotiations, acknowledging Ukraine’s weakened position.

The social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) caused confusion on Tuesday night as it appeared to suspend the account of Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of Alexei Navalny. Mrs. Navalnaya had launched her X account on Monday, accusing Putin of murdering her husband and vowing to continue his work against the dictatorship. On Tuesday night, Mrs. Navalnaya’s newly created account on X seemed to have been suspended, and when users attempted to load her page, they received the message: “Account suspended. X suspends accounts that violate X rules.”

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Musk has yet to comment on Navalny’s death

It is currently unclear which rules Mrs. Navalnaya is alleged to have violated. However, following swift and strong opposition from other users, her account was restored. X’s owner, Elon Musk, has claimed to be a supporter of free speech and an opponent of censorship but has yet to comment on or disclose the circumstances surrounding her apparent suspension. Despite Musk being very active on the platform and frequently expressing political views, he has not commented on Navalny’s death.

At the time of writing, his recent posts regarding Russia express support for the view that Putin “lost” the war in Ukraine in February 2022 and should seek peace, thus acknowledging the lost territories. “Now is the time for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia and for peace negotiations. Ukraine has lost the war, and nothing will change that,” Musk wrote in response to a user’s post. “Ukraine does not have enough people to win. Providing $60 billion to Ukraine will not change the fact. Russia will retain Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine.”

“Yes. The only question is how many people will die before this reality is accepted,” Musk said in response to the user. “A peace agreement should have been reached a year ago. Since then, thousands of boys have died in vain, and Ukraine’s position has steadily weakened.”