The Russian media are concerned about a relatively common American toy the fidget spinner.
As Newsweek reported, Alexey Kazakov, who hosts news shows on the state-run Rossiya-24, condemned the device because it "makes a person impressionable for manipulation.
Mashable reported that Kazakov has previously condemned the devices on several broadcasts.
Fidget spinners have alarmed Russian pundits, saying that the American-made devices are being used to combat Russia, Newsweek reported.
Nikolay Sokolov, Kazakovs co-anchor, the device has nothing to do with Russia and everything to do with America.
Why the spinner has become so popular in Russia now is a mystery, Sokolov said. Who could be promoting it en masse?
Independent journalist Alexey Kovalev first tweeted out the observation.
"Fidget spinners are used by opposition to pacify followers and distract them from real issues. Because that's what opposition usually does," he tweeted.
Back in the U.S., there have been some questions about fidget spinners. Research remains cloudy on whether or not the devices help calm anxiety or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, NPR reported.
"I know there's lots of similar toys, just like there's lots of other games and products marketed toward individuals who have ADHD, and there's basically no scientific evidence that those things work across the board," Scott Kollins, a clinical psychologist and professor at Duke University, told NPR.
Fidget spinners, though a simple device, have sparked outrage from teachers, who said their students constantly used them in class. mA Massachusetts middle school banned the toys for that very reason.
Chicago Tribune reporter Rex Huppke wrote a tongue-in-cheek column where he called the spinners a threat to America, adding that children everywhere are using them in class and its become a distraction.
He, like the aforementioned Russian journalists, dont know where they came from.
I don't know who planted these devices in our country, but it was clearly a malicious act intended to distract us from more important issues, like the latest versions of smartphones and foreign countries itching to invade America, he wrote.
As Newsweek reported, Alexey Kazakov, who hosts news shows on the state-run Rossiya-24, condemned the device because it "makes a person impressionable for manipulation.
Mashable reported that Kazakov has previously condemned the devices on several broadcasts.
Fidget spinners have alarmed Russian pundits, saying that the American-made devices are being used to combat Russia, Newsweek reported.
Nikolay Sokolov, Kazakovs co-anchor, the device has nothing to do with Russia and everything to do with America.
Why the spinner has become so popular in Russia now is a mystery, Sokolov said. Who could be promoting it en masse?
Independent journalist Alexey Kovalev first tweeted out the observation.
"Fidget spinners are used by opposition to pacify followers and distract them from real issues. Because that's what opposition usually does," he tweeted.
Back in the U.S., there have been some questions about fidget spinners. Research remains cloudy on whether or not the devices help calm anxiety or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, NPR reported.
"I know there's lots of similar toys, just like there's lots of other games and products marketed toward individuals who have ADHD, and there's basically no scientific evidence that those things work across the board," Scott Kollins, a clinical psychologist and professor at Duke University, told NPR.
Fidget spinners, though a simple device, have sparked outrage from teachers, who said their students constantly used them in class. mA Massachusetts middle school banned the toys for that very reason.
Chicago Tribune reporter Rex Huppke wrote a tongue-in-cheek column where he called the spinners a threat to America, adding that children everywhere are using them in class and its become a distraction.
He, like the aforementioned Russian journalists, dont know where they came from.
I don't know who planted these devices in our country, but it was clearly a malicious act intended to distract us from more important issues, like the latest versions of smartphones and foreign countries itching to invade America, he wrote.
