Russia Probing Pro-Suicide Social Network

Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has blacklisted eight groups on the social network Vkontakte for allegedly promoting suicide. Agency chief Alexander Zharov said that the online administrators of communities pushing subscribers to suicide had been identified by both users and journalists. The information has been sent to the digital crime department in Russia’s Interior Ministry, RT reported. On May 16, the Novaya Gazeta newspaper published an article about private Vkontakte groups driving young people to suicide. The groups led to the deaths of 130 minors between November 2015 and April 2016, the report claimed. The article has drawn widespread attention from the public as well as officials. Roskomnadzor and consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor have both reported launching probes into Novaya Gazeta’s data.