In 2013, the Russian authorities demanded from the social network « ;VKontakte provide personal information about the organizers of the Maidan protests,” said the founder of VKontakte. and Telegram Pavel Durov in an interview with American pro-Russian journalist Tucker Carlson.
According to him, during the Maidan, Ukrainians used VKontakte to organize protests. At the same time, the management of the social network received “either a request or an order” from Russian authorities who asked for personal information about the organizers of protests in Ukraine.
«Our response was: “Wait, this is a different country. We will not betray our Ukrainian users, because you ask us to.” We have decided to reject [the request],” — Durov stated.
Subsequently, he was allegedly given a choice: either obey the orders of the Russian elite, or sell his stake in the company and leave the country.
Durov also stated that statements that that his other social network — Telegram — cooperates with the Russian authorities, do those “who have a limited understanding of how he came to be.”
“They may be encouraged by our competitors because they see it as an easy way to discredit us,” — says the founder of Telegram.
Prepared by: Nina Petrovich