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The owner of half of Russia's second largest mobile network is now said to be in joint control of the country's largest social media website in a move being described by its founder as a Kremlin backed takeover.

Pavel Durov, the founder of VKontakte -- with around 240 million users it is often described as the Russian Facebook -- says that he was pushed out of the company which is now under the control of two Kremlin allies.

There is some discrepancies in the claim, with allegations that he sold his shares last year and may have resigned on several previous occasions, only to rescind, or not, his resignation.

The company is now being controlled, apparently, by Igor Sechin and Alisher Usmanov.

Igor Sechin is the CEO of the state-owned oil company, Rosneft and said to be a close ally of the Putin government, while Alisher Usmanov is Russia's richest man and co-owner of Russia's second-largest mobile telephone operator, MegaFon.

Through one of Usmanov's other subsidiary company's, he is understood to own just under 40% of VKontakte. In 2012, it ceded voting rights of its shares to the website founder, Pavel Durov which when combined with his personal 12% stake ensured he would keep control over the company.

The social media website recently refused requests from the government to clamp down on postings relating to the situation in Ukraine and has been under pressure to be more compliant with Kremlin demands for control over the media.

Last May, it was reported in the media that the site had been mistakenly put on a list of websites banned by the Russian government, although that ban was lifted quickly, it was seen as a sign of growing pressure on the website to be more amenable to government demands.

Earlier this year, Durov was said to have sold his personal 12% stake to Ivan Tavrin, the CEO of Russian mobile phone operator Megafon. That gave Megafon and its shareholders an indirect 52% stake in the company, and management control.

Durov says that he only learnt that he had been fired through press reports, although the company itself says that he tendered his resignation a month ago, and it had been accepted.

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Megafon Shareholders Reportedly Seize Control of Russia's Facebook

Global Media Control, Corporations, Israel, Putin, and Nuclear War
Text of Snowden #39;s video interview with Putin: Edward Snowden:... "Does Russia store, intercept, or analyze, in any way, the communications of millions of ind...

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Global Media Control, Corporations, Israel, Putin, and Nuclear War - Video

MOSCOW, April 22 (UPI) -- Pavel Durov, founder of VKontakte, claims that he has been removed from his position and the Russian government has taken control of the website.

VKontakte is the Russian version of Facebook and is the country's most popular social media website. Durov said Monday that he has been fired from his position, and that the social media platform is now under the control of two close allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Today, VKontakte goes under the complete control of Igor Sechin and Alisher Usmanov," wrote Durov on his page. "Probably, in the Russian context, something like this was inevitable, but I'm happy we lasted seven and a half years ... we did a lot. And part of what's been done can't be turned back."

Usmanov is a medals tycoon who has launched his own tech business and until recently owned a 10 percent share in Facebook. Sechin, one of Putin's closest advisers, is the leader of a military group made up of former KGB agents that back Putin, and is the CEO of the state-owned oil company.

Durov has previously been asked to shut down pages related to Putin opposition leader Alexey Navalny. He says he has refused all such requests. Durov found out about his dismissal by the VKontakte board through news reports. The board is citing the reason for his dismissal is his failure to formally withdraw his letter of resignation by the appropriate deadline.

VKontakte is used by more than 100 million users in Russia and Europe.

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VKontakte founder: Social media site under Kremlin control

VKontakte founder and CEO Pavel Durov says he was fired over his resistance to Moscow's efforts to monitor and control access to the popular social media platform.

Russia's version of Mark Zuckerberg,VKontaktefounder and CEO Pavel Durov, is out of a job.

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After what he describes as a long, under-the-carpet battle with Kremlin-linked forces who tried to force him to turn over user data to Russian secret services, Mr. Durov posted on his personal VKontakte pageMonday that he found out from the media that he was fired, and criticized shareholders for not having the "courage" to do it to his face. He added that "complete control" of the mainly Russian-language, Facebook-like social media site is now in the hands of Igor Sechin,the head of the Kremlin-owned oil company Rosneft, and Russia's richest man, metals tycoon Alisher Usmanov.

VKontakte claims to have more than 100 million registered users, primarily in the former Soviet Union, which would make it Europe's biggest social media network.

"Something like this was probably inevitable in Russia, but I am glad that we held out for 7-1/2 years," Durov said. "We accomplished a lot. And some of what we've managed to do cannot be undone."

It's been a long and murky saga.

Durov is a flamboyant and sometimes controversial figure who once threw paper airplanes made of 5,000 ruble notes (about $160) from his office window to see how people in the street would react (it reportedly created pandemonium). About a year ago he was accused in a bizarre hit-and-run incident, in which he allegedly ran over a policeman's foot. He denied it, insisting that he does not even drive a car. While he was under investigation, his partners reportedly sold 48 percent of the company to an investment fund run by a senior executive in the Kremlin oil company Rosneft.

Scrolling down Durov's VKontakte page reveals the milestones of what he says has been his struggle to protect the data of his users.

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Did the Kremlin just 'unfriend' the founder of Russia's Facebook?

SINGAPORE: The Media Development Authority (MDA) is proposing that Internet Service Providers offer subscribers basic parental control tools for free with the subscription or renewal of Internet access packages.

It is seeking public feedback on its recommendations to better help parents monitor their children's Internet usage.

Public consultations end on May 9.

These enhancements aim to raise the awareness of parental control tools offered by local Internet Access Service Providers (IASPs) and make it easier for parents to subscribe to these services.

Free tools for parents to screen content their children view online should include filtering services to allow parents to specify the types of content they do not want their children to see, but the service providers can choose to offer premium functionalities at an additional cost.

This may become a reality if recommendations by the MDA are well-received by the public.

MDAs chief executive officer, Koh Lin-net, said: "We recognise that the Internet offers many opportunities for everyone, but at the same time, there are some pitfalls to also watch out for.

"In particular, we know today that young children, as young as three or four years old, are already accessing the Internet, and we wanted to make sure that parents are aware that parental control solutions are out there so that they can make decisions as to what they want their children to see or not to see."

Service providers can also play a greater role.

Currently, they need to inform and offer parental control services to subscribers when they sign up for or renew their residential broadband and mobile internet packages.

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MDA seeks public feedback on Internet parental controls