Posted on 04/23/2014 9:49:31 PM PDT by Olog-hai
The founder of Russia’s leading social media network—a wunderkind often described as Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg—has left his post as CEO and fled the country as cronies of President Vladimir Putin have made steady inroads into the company’s ownership.
The slow-motion ouster of Pavel Durov from the network known as VKontakte, or “In Contact,” is the latest sign that independent media outlets in Russia have become increasingly imperiled.
Although months in the making, the loss of Durov’s leadership in VKontakte means that the space for free speech on the Russian web could shrink even further. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Reuters has a different take than AP, it seems...
Russia’s VKontakte CEO says he was fired, flees Russia
Pavel Durov, the founder of VKontakte, Russia’s largest social network, said on Tuesday he was fired and had fled the country as allies of the Kremlin gained full control of the site.
Known as Russia’s answer to Facebook, VKontakte (VK) has been the focus of an ownership battle since last April, when the United Capital Partners (UCP) fund bought 48 percent of the company’s shares.
UCP’s dispute with Alisher Usmanov’s Mail.Ru, which owns the other 52 percent, deepened this month as the rivals took legal action to assert their influence.
Durov said on April 1 he had decided to step down because his freedom in running VK had been reduced by a shareholder change. Two days later, he withdrew his resignation, saying his departure would have threatened VK’s future.
“Judging by the news ... I was fired today as the general director of VKontakte. Interestingly, the shareholders did not have the courage to do it directly and I learnt about my mysterious dismissal from the press,” Durov wrote on his VK.com account late on Monday
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/04/22/russia-vkontakte-ceo-idINL6N0NE1HS20140422
The Reuters story is about a day older, but the rhetoric is certainly divergent from AP.
Anti free speech and jailing Pussy Riot, got to love those freedom loving Putinistas. Wonder how the Ukranians in the east really feel?
Same thing is happening here with our own fascist
takeover. GM, Mozilla.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.