VK Shares Private Messages of Russian User with Authorities

The administration of the social network VK (VKontakte) has handed over the private messages of Russian citizen Eduard N. to law enforcement agencies. Eduard is accused of extremism due to posts on his VK page, according to a report by Novaya Gazeta.

VK representatives stated that the company acted in accordance with the law, as the request to provide the messages was approved by a court. In total, law enforcement received a disk containing more than 1 MB of correspondence.

“VK is required to provide correspondence by court order in accordance with Russian law. We would like to emphasize that the messages were provided only for the period specified in the court’s decision,” VK’s press service told TJournal.

The Russian citizen is charged under Part 1 of Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code (“Incitement of hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity”).