Russian opposition activist and blogger Alexei Navalny is one of the 30 most influential people on the Internet, according to a compilation published by Time magazine Friday, on the same day Navalny was released from jail.
Navalny earned his spot on the list "by exposing corruption in [President] Vladimir Putin's regime," according to the U.S. magazine, which singled out his report alleging a $4 billion corruption scheme at the state-owned oil firm Transneft that garnered a million views in one day.
"As long as he has an Internet connection, he will remain a major thorn in Putin's side — and a force in Russian politics," Time concluded.
Other people to make the international list included world leaders such as U.S. President Barack Obama, Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with a host of celebrities including singers Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Beyonce, TV host Jimmy Fallon, reality TV star Kim Kardashian and Harry Potter author J.K Rowling, as well as popular food, fashion and design bloggers.
Navalny, who was the only Russian to feature on the list, appropriately took to Twitter to respond to the news.
"Turns out Justin Bieber and I are among the 30 most influential people on the Internet. Shame I didn't know about it earlier — I could have entertained the other people in the detention center," he wrote Friday.
The opposition activist, who was a leading figure in large-scale street protests that swept Russia in 2011 and 2012, was released Friday after spending two weeks in jail for distributing flyers for an opposition rally on the Moscow metro.
The criteria used by Time magazine to compile the list were social media followings, site traffic and ability to drive news. The list is not ranked.
