Translated material
VKontakte handed over to investigators the correspondence of a person accused of extremism because of a joke
VKontakte handed over to investigators the personal correspondence of Eduard Nikitin, accused of inciting hatred towards Russians and Russians (Article 282 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by Novaya Gazeta St. Petersburg, publishing documents proving the disclosure of personal correspondence.
On February 7, 2018, the Nevsky District Court received a petition from investigator Denis Pomogaibo for access to Nikitin’s personal correspondence on VKontakte. Judge Elena Alekseeva granted the petition; the next day after her decision, Pomogaibo sent a request to the administration of the social network. On February 21, the head of the company’s security service, V. Yu. Russkov, handed over to the investigator Nikitin’s personal correspondence on VKontakte for the entire existence of his account.
On December 1, 2015, the general director of VKontakte received the first request from the Center for Countering Extremism. Then law enforcement officers demanded from the social network the administration IP addresses, owner registration data, e-mail and telephone numbers. VKontakte transferred the data to Center E by the end of December.
On February 20, 2016, Center “E” requested from the provider company Dom.ru Interzet, which served Nikitin, “information about the user who was provided with an IP address <...> for accessing the site vk.com on the specified dates and times.” On March 10, the company provided law enforcement with subscriber data.
UPD 21:21 The VKontakte press service contacted OVD-Info and noted that the social network is “obliged to provide correspondence based on a court decision in accordance with Russian law.” In addition, according to the press service representative, VKontakte provided Nikitin’s correspondence only for the period requested by the investigator. This period is unknown.
UPD 00:15 Information and analytical center "Sova" reports that a case was opened against Nikitin not only because of an anecdote. The case materials also include three demotivators “with pictures and captions that are clearly offensive to ethnic Russians, including the use of obscenities,” a picture with the caption “disputing the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya,” as well as comments calling for hitting “vatniks” on the head with a butt and burn Russian embassies in different countries.
- The case against Eduard Nikitin, a disabled person of the second group, was opened in 2017. The reason was a cartoon and an anecdote that he posted on his VKontakte page in 2015.
The examination found extremism in a joke in which one of the characters doubts positive changes after the elections, as well as in a cartoon with the word “vatnik.” * In August, the investigation asked that the man be sent for compulsory treatment.