Zelensky Aide Accuses Musk Of Censoring Ukraine War On Twitter

A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Elon Musk of hiding reporting on the Ukraine war from Twitter trends.

Spokesman Mikhail Podoliak blasted the billionaire Twitter CEO for censoring vital Ukraine information. “‘War in Ukraine’ disappearance from Twitter trends. Radical curtailment of tweets mentioning ru-aggression coverage. Users aren’t allowed to register or log into accounts with Ukrainian phone number,” Podoliak wrote Tuesday on Twitter, tagging Musk.

“War in Ukraine” disappearance from Twitter trends. Radical curtailment of tweets mentioning ru-aggression coverage. Users aren’t allowed to register or log into accounts with Ukrainian phone number. @elonmusk, I wonder if will we ever see “Twitter Files” about Fall/Winter 2022?

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) December 13, 2022

The Ukrainian presidency’s office spokesman additionally took a swipe at the ongoing “Twitter files” release, saying he doesn’t expect the issue he’s raising to be covered there. “Elon Musk, I wonder if we will ever see ‘Twitter Files’ about Fall/Winter 2022?” Podoliak questioned. 

The suggestion was that Musk is seeking to tilt coverage in terms of content that appears on Twitter against anything highlighting “ru-“(Russian)”aggression” – as he wrote in the tweet.

Some recent local Ukrainian media reports have claimed that users within the country or anyone possessing a Ukrainian phone number can no longer register or log in to Twitter.

Based on prior official Twitter statements, but not directly addressing the Ukrainian charge, its trending topics are “determined by an algorithm and, by default, are tailored for you based on who you follow, your interests, and your location.” This “identifies topics that are popular now, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis,” according to Twitter.

Ukrainian leadership has been angered at Musk ever since he grew bolder in criticizing the open-ended US military and financial support to the Ukrainian government, expressing fears of stumbling into a nuclear-armed WWIII scenario. This despite his previously providing Starlink to the war-ravaged country.

He sparked outrage among Ukraine-supporters with his early October “Russia-Ukraine Peace” Twitter poll and related threads wherein he called out Washington and its rush to confront Russia in Ukraine.

At that time, Zelensky had even weighed in, condemning Musk. Musk had also engaged some of his irate followers who pointed out that he risked angering many Ukrainians. Musk responded, “You are assuming that I wish to be popular. I don’t care. I do care that millions of people may die needlessly for an essentially identical outcome” – in reference the potential for nuclear war between superpowers over Ukraine. He has since also pledged to clean up the bot accounts, which each side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has said artificially tilts what gets presented to users.