Twitter bans Kaspersky Lab from buying ads

Twitter has banned the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab from advertising on its platform over its purported relationship with the Kremlin.

Twitter said Friday its decision was “based on our determination that Kaspersky Lab operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter ad practices.”

Kaspersky is still permitted to have Twitter accounts and post organically on the on the platform.

According to an open letter to Twitter by Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab, his company only became aware of the ban in late January.

“We haven’t violated any written – or unwritten – rules, and our business model is quite simply the same template business model that’s used throughout the whole cybersecurity industry,” he said.

Kaspersky said he believed the ban was partially due to public and political pressure Twitter is facing to rebuke Russia after it came to light that the country has attempted to use social media platforms to influence U.S. politics.

Kaspersky spent more than $94,000 on advertising on Twitter in 2017, according to the company.  It will donate its 2018 budget the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a U.S.-based digital advocacy groups.

Lawmakers and U.S. intelligence have targeted Kaspersky Lab, alleging it is a tool for the Russian government. Its critics believe that the Kremlin uses it as a way to digitally infiltrate and conduct cyber-espionage on its clients.

At the end of last year, President Donald Trump signed into law legislation banning the use of Kaspersky Lab products by the federal government.