CEO of "Russian Facebook" Says He Was Fired, Company Now in Hands Of Putin Allies

[okaawhatever]

So ends the slow unravelling of independence at VKontakte, Russia’s most popular social network.

Pavel Durov, the founder of VKontakte, Russia’s most popular social network, said on Monday that he had been fired and that the site was now “under the complete control” of two close allies of President Vladimir Putin.

Announcing his firing on his VKontakte page, Durov said: “Today, VKontakte goes under the complete control of Igor Sechin and Alisher Usmanov.” Usmanov is a metals tycoon who expanded into tech via his company Mail.ru, which has steadily upped its stake in the Russian social network. Until recently, Usmanov owned a 10% stake in Facebook. Sechin is the leader of the hardline silovik faction that backs Putin, is CEO of Rosneft, the state-owned oil company, and is believed to be one of the Russian president’s closest advisors.
“Probably, in the Russian context, something like this was inevitable, but I’m happy we lasted seven and a half years,” Durov continued. “We did a lot. And part of what’s been done can’t be turned back.”

While the Kremlin maintains tight control over television and some print media, it has been lax about allowing freedom of expression to flourish online. That is now changing, particularly after anti-Putin protests held in the winter of 2011–12 that were organized by an opposition that was particularly active online.

Durov, a press-shy 29-year-old who founded a network that now boasts more than 100 million users in Russia and other post-Soviet countries, has largely stayed out of politics but says he has refused previous Kremlin attempts to censor VKontakte. Last week, he posted that he had in the past received requests to shut down groups on the site related to opposition leader Alexey Navalny and to anti-government protests in Ukraine, and had refused.

Continued at Link:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/miriamelder/ceo-of-russian-facebook-says-he-was-fired-and-that-the-socia

[Duckhunter935]

1. no surprise there

But Putin is such a good guy

[davidpdx]

2. Wouldn't want to allow protests would we?

Unless of course they are hired thugs that pose as Ukrainian citizens.

[tridim]

3. Make Snowjob the CEO

Details aren't important to super-geniuses, and nobody enjoys being used like Snowy.

He won't even bother to question who is really in charge.

[Iterate]

4. Moscow Times is speculating on a possible reprieve for Russia’s last independent TV station,

http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-this-week-ntv-denounces-furies-of-maidan/
0530 GMT: Moscow Times is speculating on a possible reprieve for Russia’s last independent TV station, TV Rain, based on a comment President Vladimir Putin made on his call-in show last week:

“‘If the disappearance of Dozhd from television screens is a result of some kind of checks and excessive attention on the part of the regulatory organs, then for my part I will do everything to counteract that attention,’ Putin said.”

TV Rain has been fighting for its life ever since a controversial survey about whether the sacrifices of the Leningrad Blockade in World War II were justified triggered a backlash from war veterans, followed by cancellation of the channel by several cable operators. TV Rain launched a fund-raising marathon where producers managed to raise enough to survive for another three months, but meanwhile were unexpectedly informed that their lease at the trendy Krasny Oktyabr (Red October) building would not be renewed.

...

TV Rain’s chief Natalya Sineyeva has said that while the channel may be forced to close, she intended to change the business strategy and pursue online TV streaming.

Whether or not any of this will help remains to be seen; Sineyeva has explained in the past that the presidential administration has been unhappy with her station since TV Rain ran reports by opposition leader Alexey Navalny about a luxury residence owned by Vyacheslav Volodin, deputy head of the Kremlin administration and one of Putin’s key aides.

Don't stand next to Navalny in a lightning storm.

[NuclearDem]

5. I call BS.

Because pensions and Svoboda.