Kaspersky Labs was banned by Twitter from advertising on their platform because of the company’s alleged illegal ties with Russian intelligence agencies. The ban was issued in January according to a letter published on Kaspersky’s Blog. Twitter has also confirmed the ban to Bleeping Computer.
A spokesperson from Twitter said that the company made the policy decision to off-board advertising from all accounts owned by Kaspersky Labs. He also stated that,
“This decision is based on our determination that Kaspersky Lab operates using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices. Kaspersky Lab may remain an organic user on our platform, in accordance with the Twitter Rules.”
He also mentioned a directive from the Department of Homeland which states to ban any use of Kaspersky Products on DoD computers. He actually pointed out to a subset of a context,
The Department is concerned about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence and other government agencies, and requirements under Russian law that allow Russian intelligence agencies to request or compel assistance from Kaspersky and to intercept communications transiting Russian networks. The risk that the Russian government, whether acting on its own or in collaboration with Kaspersky, could capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products to compromise federal information and information systems directly implicates U.S. national security.