Senior Russian diplomat at UN blocked by Twitter

UNITED NATIONS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, has been blocked by Twitter, said the diplomat on Friday.

"I just wanted to announce that my Twitter was blocked today. And I received a message from the client service saying that I'm violating the rules of Twitter and I'm engaged in abuse and harassment," Polyanskiy told reporters after a Security Council meeting.

Polyanskiy read out the tweet in question: That's how fake news is born. We warned in our statement back on 7 March that the hospital in Mariupol has been turned into a military object by radicals. Very disturbing that you help spread this information without verification.

"That was my tweet. So it's abuse and harassment according to Twitter," he said. "This is very deplorable. And this clearly illustrates how much alternative view and free press and free information is valued by Twitter and in this country."

Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, said at the press encounter, "This is a new interpretation of the word harassment as well."

Polyanskiy's last tweet was seen at 23:17 Thursday EDT (0317 GMT Friday).