Vkontakte social network targeted by security services

Russian Internet gagged

Vkontakte social network targeted by security services

9 December 2011

Pavel Durov, the founder and director general of the Russian online social network Vkontakte, was summoned to the Saint Petersburg prosecutor’s office today after a spokesman for Vkontakte said it would not censor the network and would not comply with an order from the Federal Security Service (FSB) to block seven groups calling for demonstrations in the next few days.

Most are opposition groups that are protesting against the results of the parliamentary elections. One is a group calling on supporters to defend the ruling party. Vkontakte has more than 5 million users in Russia.
“This unreasonable order aims to deprive Internet users of the freedom of expression, opinion and assembly,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The authorities are using prevention of violence as a pretext for reinforcing control of the Internet. Most of the online groups that the FSB wants to shut down have been clearly urging their members to respect the law and not respond to provocation.”
According to one Russian blogger’s estimate, up to 185,000 people are registered with the protests groups.
As well trying to suppress online protests directly, the Kremlin is using cyber-warfare. Thousands of Twitter accounts have reportedly been flooded with pro-government messages by hackers using hashtags popular with protesters – such as #navalny (referring to a leading opposition blogger) or #триумфальная (Moscow’s Triumfalnaya Square) – in order to swamp the flow of information on social networks.