Translated material
Silence of VKontakte
Against the background of ongoing scandals associated with uncontrolled “drain” user data to security forces, the popular social network prefers to ignore the appeals of social activists and journalists.
The social network of VKontakte (belongs to Mail.ru Group), apparently, finally went into the “Deaf Protection”, fenced off from the outside world with the wall of silence. The public’s property is becoming more and more facts of user data, up to correspondence, Russian security forces, however, the company is in no hurry to go to users, or public activists, nor to journalists. In early August of this year, Roskomvoboda published an official appeal to Mail.ru Group in connection with the increased number of sentences and facts of holding Russians accountable for posts on the Internet, the lion's share of which is on VK, and in about a week the company promised to publish the statistics of the authorities, but until now, no Transparency Report has appeared.
It is quite reasonable to be a bewilderment of the journalist Echo of Moscow Alexander Poychev, to whom the company promised to participate in one of the broadcasts, but he also had any dialogue with VK:
“Remember, Vkontakte once in the heat of a dispute with Maxim Katsu agreed to take on me? Well, to tell you how to click on the fingers of investigators, they are not drained by users who are planted simply in packs, ”the journalist writes in his Telegram channel. - Everything was August 16, on Twitter, publicly. VKontakte PR Director Dmitry Lushnikov promptly came to contact and we began to discuss the possible date. On the next Sunday (August 19), the speaker was not found, but Dmitry Sergeyev was promised. In order not to wait a week, I agreed with the host of the Blogat program Michael Naki that Sergeyev would go on the air (Thursday, August 23), and I will participate. For two days, Lushnikov “coordinated” the broadcast, then said that no, Sergeev was loaded. It cannot break out of us. ”
Plyushchev also said that the company itself made an oncoming offer:
“As you already know, we are preparing a report by analogy with Transparency Report, where there will be generalized query data. I propose to plan the air a little later, and in gratitude for the transfer, we will announce the numbers the first to you. At the same time, we can discuss this report there. In terms of terms, we are talking about a transfer of a couple of weeks. "
“A couple of weeks ended predictably and Lushnikov asked to transfer the air for ... 7-20 days,” the journalist continues. -Here I already said that guys, you are holding at least some of your words. Answer users' questions, <to damn> Your report. Lushnikov said: "I understood your position, I will return."
But after 20 days, nothing happened again. Naturally, the public and journalists were outraged by such an attitude of the social network on the desire to establish feedback with it, especially against the background of new facts of the non -controlled transfer of user data to security officials.
So, recently it became known that in February of this year, the social network handed over to investigators the personal correspondence of Eduard Nikitin, accused of “exciting hatred of Russians and Russians” (Article 282 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the New Gazeta St. Petersburg, having published documents proving the disclosure of personal correspondence-the judge of the Nevsky District Court Elena Alekseeva satisfied the petition of the investigator Denis Help to access to Nikitin’s personal census in Vkontakte, and the very next day after its decision, Help Submitted a request from the social network administration. After a couple of weeks, the head of the security service of the company V.Yu.ruskov handed over to the investigator the personal correspondence of Nikitin in Vkontakte for the entire existence of his account .
The press service of VKontakte contacted the ATS-Info and, in fact not saying anything new, said that the social network "is obliged to provide correspondence by a court decision in accordance with Russian law." In addition, according to the representative of the press service, VKontakte provided Nikitin's correspondence only for the period requested by the investigator. This period is unknown.
“I wonder how after everything that happens in the country, including Because of his actions, Andrei Rogozov [Chief Executive Director of VK], who is afraid to even quit in this situation in order to at least somehow save his reputation (and, possibly, to avoid an honest and fair trial after a change of power)? ” Asks the Telegram channel“ You will sit for like ”.
In Barnaul, the trial of Maria Motuznaya continues, to which VKontakte also attached a hand, providing very detailed data to the security forces, including IP addresses, from which the girl accused of extremism and insulting the feelings of believers went into her account.
In addition to the motorcycle, several more cases against her fellow countrymen were instituted by law enforcement officers, after which the fact of the mass of the persecution of Russians for expressing their own opinions began to simply not hide. Moreover, the authorities seriously discussed the possibility of liberalization of anti -ethnic legislation, but recently “rolled back” .
Nevertheless, Russian IT companies, online publications and other network resources gradually began to introduce a report to their users about the requests of the authorities. So, recently the Khabr portal became the first Russian Internet resource to publish a report on public stakes, and we hope this will be a good example for other Russian online services.
Roskomvoboda also continues to hope that Mail.ru Group will in the near future violate the vow of silence, fulfilling his promise to publish Transparency Report, and will also take a number of other steps that will ensure the safety of users, riding them of unreasonable persecution by the authorities.
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Khabr was the first to publish a report on public procurement in Russia