Dmitry Medvedev's Twitter snafu. Images mixed by Kevin Rothrock.
Earlier today, hackers briefly took control of the Russian prime minister's Twitter account. The group Anonymous International (which RuNet Echo profiled [1] in June) later claimed responsibility [2]. As president and especially as prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev has been the butt of many jokes in Russia, where political observers have predicted his resignation since he took office. Medvedev has a reputation for clumsy, sometimes even foolish public appearances.
Presumably chosen as Vladimir Putin's second-in-command because he is so unimposing, Medvedev occupied the Kremlin from 2008 to 2012, when his interest in blogs and social media helped, rather than hindered, the development of the Russian Internet. Since Putin's return to the presidency and Medvedev's demotion to the prime minister's office, faith in Medvedev has dwindled to the frail hope that he's secretly opposed to Putin's “turning of the screws.” When Anonymous International hijacked Medvedev's Twitter account, it lampooned precisely this pipe dream.
RuNet Echo has translated some of the most amusing hacked Medvedev tweets, which were deleted the moment Twitter recaptured the account from Anonymous International.
I am resigning. I'm ashamed of this government's actions. Forgive me.
Other hacked tweets satirized the Russian government's expected decision to abolish individual savings accounts in the country's pension program. One high-ranking official, Sergei Belyakov, already lost his job [3], when he dared to apologize for the decision on Facebook. Anonymous International also jokes that Medvedev opposes Russia's annexation of Crimea, an acquisition that Russians have christened simply “KrymNash,” or “Crimea is ours.” Just this week, Medvedev was photographed [4] in Crimea signing a map with this slogan.
And we've come to nothing with the pension system. Only Belyakov spoke out. Everyone else chickened out.
Finally we're thinking about banning electricity. It's more fool-proof.
#CrimeaIsntOurs Please retweet.
Some of Anonymous International's tweets through Medvedev's account addressed the prime minister's recent government order imposing new regulations [5] on public wireless Internet access, including the need to supply Internet providers with passport information.
Despite our efforts, certain online hooligans still sh!t on needing to provide their passport number for Wi-Fi access. :( :( :(
And, by the way, concerning “Wi-Fi by passport” and other initiatives my government's led to regulate the Internet. We were forced to do this [by the Kremlin].
Many of the hacked tweets simply criticized Russia's leadership—particularly Russia's recent craze for banning things.
Russian citizens shouldn't have to suffer because their leaders have problems with common sense.
We might return to the 1980s. This is sad. If this is the goal of my colleagues in the Kremlin, then they'll soon achieve it.
You think anyone in Yalta today will say something important? I doubt it. I'm sitting here and thinking to myself, what's the f*cking point?
Maybe it would be better to ban electricity? I promise that the government will consider such action in the near future. But it will do so without me.
And Anonymous International would be nothing if it didn't allude to Medvedev's foolish reputation. This tweet refers to Medvedev's infatuation with photography, perhaps alluding to his infamously embarrassing elevator selfie [6].
I will become a free photographer. I've dreamed about it for some time.