Without control from the US, Facebook could face Russia ‘s ban.
According to Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s special representative for IT, if Libra launches without sufficient control measures, “the likelihood of Facebook being blocked” will increase in Russia.
Peskov did later admit that the ban decision does not depend on Russia ‘s government, but the American one if they were to eventually block Libra or Telegram’s cryptocurrency.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will defend Libra before the House Financial Services Committee on October 23.
Libra’s co-creator, David Marcus, came under intense scrutiny in front of the Senate in August, with officials lamenting the decision to base the company in Switzerland and the potential threat to the US Dollar.
Concerns all around the globe
Finance ministers in France also declared that they will “block Facebook’s Libra project” as it poses a threat to governments’ monetary sovereignty.
Facebook always faced Russia’s ban in the past, in connection to issues with data storage.
Various high profile companies have now pulled out of the Libra association amid regulatory concerns. One of them was PayPal, who got cold feet after admitting they will focus on advancing existing business priorities.