Found it fascinating to read reactions to Trump's Twitter ban among Russia's opposition activists: mostly, though not entirely, negative. (The argument is consistently: 'this amounts to censorship'). E.g., from @navalny: https://twitter.com/navalny/status/1347969772177264644?s=20.

Interesting how a seemingly US domestic issue would provoke such а heated reaction in Russia,so much so that Navalny's close associate @v_milov even tweeted to the effect that opposing the ban did not mean that the Russian opposition were Trump supporters: https://twitter.com/navalny/status/1347969772177264644?s=20

Highlights three issues. First, obviously Russia's particular reality and historical precedent makes Russian opposition activists especially apprehensive of anything that comes across as "censorship," whether imposed by the State or private companies.

Second, there's a well-founded skepticism in Russia in relation to the distinction between the State and private interests. You could argue that it's rooted in a Marxist/materialist conception of the State as a "tool" of the ruling class.

I always found it interesting how during the Cold War, the Soviet leaders were genuinely convinced that US Presidents were not really independent actors; that they merely served at the behest of their puppet masters from the "military-industrial complex" (i.e. big capitalists).

In part, it was just a self-reflection. Remember that joke: "In America, the government is under pressure from the military-industrial complex whereas in the Soviet Union... the government *is* the military-industrial complex."

But, Marxism or not, this thinking continued and was even reinforced by the metamorphoses of the 1990s, when the Russian state was effectively privatised by oligarchic interest groups (this state of affairs persists until today). So, no surprise about this perception.

The final point is just how remarkable it is that something that happens in America, involving US domestic actors and issues, causes such a commotion in certain circles in the Russian opposition. Just another reminder of what interconnected world we live in.