The international LGBT community got an extra Christmas present this year, as Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has been suspended from Facebook and Instagram.
The ban was enacted on December 22, shortly after the U.S. increased sanctions against Chechnya.
“The network has long been pretending to be independent from Washington D.C. and their move came right after the U.S. Treasury sanctions,” wrote the anti-LGBT dictator. “They wanted to annoy me, but failed—which is the only thing that pleases me.”
Kadyrov added he’d been thinking about leaving Instagram, “but [I] didn’t want to upset my friends and followers—almost four millions (sic) of them.”
In the meantime, Kadyrov’s Twitter account still appears to be active, with more than 400,000 followers.
In a tweet on Wednesday, he asked Facebook “Where is your dedication to democracy and the right of citizens to receive information?”
Facebook заявил о деактивации аккаунта из-за списка «запрещённых лиц США". Очень спокойно отношусь к этой мышиной возне США. Но вопрос к Facebook и Минфину. Где ваша хваленная демократия и право граждан на получение информации? Или мнение 4 млн подписчиков ничего не значит?
— Рамзан Кадыров (@RKadyrov) December 27, 2017
#Instagram и #Facebook заблокировали мои аккаунты. При этом они не подумали о четырёх миллионах подписчиков.
— Рамзан Кадыров (@RKadyrov) December 23, 2017
Last month, Kadyrov told reporters he was ready to step down, though he has made such claims before.
“Once there was a need for people like me to fight, to put things in order. Now we have order and prosperity … and time has come for changes in the Chechen Republic.”