Trump's campaign is upset Twitter banned political ads. So, oddly, is Russian state media.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's announcement Wednesday that Twitter will stop accepting political advertising starting Nov. 22 was not greeted warmly by President Trump's campaign, which apparently believes banning all political ads will "silence Trump and conservatives."

The Democratic presidential candidates vying to unseat Trump, on the other hand, largely praised the decision — even though, as National Republican Senatorial Committee senior adviser Matt Whitlock noted (on Twitter, naturally), Democrats "do significantly more advertising on Twitter than we do." The Democrats said Facebook should follow suit.

U.S. political campaigns expressing interest in a major social media platform's political advertising policy makes sense. Less clear is why Russian state media cares.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

"Why on earth would RT, Russia's propaganda outlet (which has been designated as a foreign agent by our own DOJ), find Twitter's ban on political ads in the U.S. to be 'URGENT'?" asked Asha Rangappa, a former FBI agent and CNN analyst.

Maybe it's Dorsey's inclusion of the phrase "democratic infrastructure"? Peter Weber