"Russian Facebook" founder flees country after being forced out as CEO flees country, Russian social network is now effectively under state control.Pavel Durov, the founder of Vkontakte (VK)--the largest social network in Russia--said on Tuesday that he fled the country one day after being forced out of the company, claiming that he felt threatened by Kremlin officials.
Durov explained that after seven years of relative social media freedom in Russia, his refusal to share user data with Russian law enforcement has set him at odds with the Kremlin, which has recently been trying to tighten its grip on the Internet, according to The Moscow Times.
VK's former CEO says that despite his multiple refusals of Kremlin requests to censor his site in a similar fashion to how it filters print and TV news, the site--which boasts 143 million registered users globally, 88 million of whom are based in Russia--is now effectively under state control.
From article comments:
The past "springs", riots, and resignations based on big data and social activism has these guys scared. And the last thing they want to do is have to crack down on anyone too hard. So they'll go back to State controlled propaganda with fewer alternatives or alternatives with heavy restrictions. Political prisoners that use social media will be tracked easier and will have their posts used against them for anti-Russian reasons. While many of its citizens are in a pro-Russia, pro-Soviet Nostalgia moment, they're slowly having their rights removed or controlled.
Fools.