Thread: Pavel Durov, Founder of VK sells and moves to US "VK in the hands of Putin"?

Originally Posted by Hanna

That is WRONG. If Durov tried to prevent FSB from getting the details of Euromaidan organisers from Vkontakte, then he did right.

Also, I know that lots of people here don't like Navalny - but surely he should have the right to set up a group on VK if he wants.

Durov had a choice to make. He made it and he moved to the US. There are a few possibilites:

1. He refused to release the personal content of Euromaidan organizers to the FSB because:
---- A. He supported the planned coup.
---- B. He was a dreamer like Snowden.
2. He knew he was outgunned by Sechin and Usmanov and he wanted an easy out.
3. It's an April Fools day scam and he wanted pro-Putin supporters to have more than 50% control of VK (compensation to be found later in a Swiss bank account).

Originally Posted by 14Russian

I also had a good chuckle reading the previous posts. Of course, the West has problems with democracy - they are hypocritical but at least, many people note this and criticize it. But, with regards to Russia, both those who live there and even Westerners who are Kremlin/Putin apologists make excuses or defend Russia's actions. Which is in complete contradiction when they single out America for the same faults/flaws. HENCE, the example of the attitude and mentality of illogical and unrational thinking. Спасибо.

I don't see any reason to be an apologist. And I don't see anything to excuse or defend.
When Snowden violated our National Security and exposed the NSA program, President Putin called PRISM a "workable idea". And I agree.
Your argument fails by assuming that everyone at the forum is a civil rights activist that denounces espionage for the sake of National Security interests. That wouldn't be me.
Imo, requesting personal content of Euromaidan organizers in Ukraine was a reasonable request. And as Hanna pointed out, if the information was already available, they wouldn't need to make that request.
For whatever reasons, Durov failed to support the FSB and the National Security interests of his country. So now he's living in self-proclaimed exile in the country of his choice - a country where there is no internet privacy, period.
My take - if you're not a threat to your own country or a criminal then you don't have anything to hide.
I don't have much respect for Durov or Snowden.

Originally Posted by UhOhXplode

.I don't see any reason to be an apologist. And I don't see anything to excuse or defend.
When Snowden violated our National Security and exposed the NSA program, President Putin called PRISM a "workable idea". And I agree.
Your argument fails by assuming that everyone at the forum is a civil rights activist that denounces espionage for the sake of National Security interests. That wouldn't be me.
Imo, requesting personal content of Euromaidan organizers in Ukraine was a reasonable request. And as Hanna pointed out, if the information was already available, they wouldn't need to make that request.
For whatever reasons, Durov failed to support the FSB and the National Security interests of his country. So now he's living in self-proclaimed exile in the country of his choice - a country where there is no internet privacy, period.
My take - if you're not a threat to your own country or a criminal then you don't have anything to hide.
I don't have much respect for Durov or Snowden.

(Вытерто. Л.) You also don't seem to understand what happened with Durov and VK. If you would have bothered to read the articles I posted, you'd know that the FSB practically 'own' VK and have access to people's accounts. Durov didn't want to allow the government to do this and decided to leave when he risked arrest and seizure. I am not defending him since he's probably just a businessman who is trying to pretend a high moral ground but what is important here is that Russia has infiltrated information that ordinary people have which is probably a violation somewhere? Apologists like yourself like to portray Russia as somehow more 'moral' or just than the United States but this is another proof that these two countries have more in common than you would like to admit.

Edit: 'Imo, requesting personal content of Euromaidan organizers in Ukraine was a reasonable request.' - Okay, Mr. Fascist.... LOL! So, I guess freedoms in the USA are important but not anywhere else? Okay, duly noted. It's peculiar that Putin supporters are often hypocrites when you get down to the nitty gritty.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/te...ses-exile.html
"The Internet was once seen as a way to diversify Russia’s economy beyond oil. When VKontakte started in 2006, Mr. Durov says, he envisioned his country as a tax-free and libertarian utopia for technologists.

“The best thing about Russia at that time was the Internet sphere was completely not regulated,” he said. “In some ways, it was more liberal than the United States.”

Now the Internet is viewed with suspicion by Mr. Putin, who has called it a “C.I.A. project” and has taken steps to insulate Russia from the rest of the digital world. One leading Russian activist recently said the government was on a “campaign to shut down the Internet.”"

http://calvertjournal.com/news/show/...to-the-kremlin

It's funny that Putin has actually made the internet worse for Russians yet many support him in droves. Quite the ironic but illogical reality there.