Navalny's wife's X account is frozen, X explains that there was a ``mistake''

The wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison, has had her X account suspended.

X suspends the account of Navalny widow Yulia Navalnaya as mom demands Putin hand back body
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/x-suspends-account-navalny-widow-yulia-navalnaya-putin-body-rcna139532

Alexei Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya has X social media account suspended | World News | Sky News
https://news.sky.com/story/alexei-navalnys-wife-yulia-navalnaya-has-x-social-media-account-suspended-13076185

Mr. Navalny, who was incarcerated in a Russian prison, died in prison on February 16, 2024. Russian authorities haveannounced that the death was 'sudden,' but there are growing doubts about the cause of death due to issues such as the body not being handed over to the family.

Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, opened the X account after her husband's death and released a video message publicly accusing Putin of killing her husband. She took over the work of her husband, who was working to realize a democratic and free Russia, and for the first time took center stage in efforts to rally Russians.

Я буду продолжать дело Алексея Навального. pic.twitter.com/aBOIvcYHHk

— Yulia Navalnaya (@yulia_navalnaya) February 19, 2024

However, immediately after this message was published, Mr. Navalnaya's account was frozen. The reason for the freeze was unclear, leading to numerous speculations, and the late Navalny's foundation asked Elon Musk for an explanation.

Hey @elonmusk ! Please explain exactly which rules were violated by @yulia_navalnaya . pic.twitter.com/kzqTi5nvvY

— The Anti-Corruption Foundation (@ACF_int) February 20, 2024

Mr. Navalnaya's account was restored approximately 20 minutes after it was frozen, and X's official support account later explained, ``Our defense system against manipulation and spam erroneously flagged it and misidentified it as a violation of the rules.''

Our platform's defense mechanism against manipulation and spam mistakenly flagged @yulia_navalnaya as violating our rules. We unsuspended the account as soon as we became aware of the error, and will be updating the defense.

— Safety (@Safety) February 20, 2024

Many Western leaders have criticized President Putin over the death of Navalny, who was a strong critic of the Russian government. The Russian government has called this criticism 'unacceptable,' but President Putin himself has not yet commented at the time of writing. Mr. Navalnaya published a message from Mr. Navalny's mother, pleading with the government to ``return Alexei's body and allow him to be buried with dignity.''