Russian authorities ordered Facebook to shut down an event page created by supporters of Vladimir Putin's biggest rival Alexei Navalny.
Navalny supporters are planning a rally on the day he is scheduled to hear his verdict in a controversial embezzlement case that could put him behind bars for up to ten years. Russia's general prosecutor ordered Facebook to have an event page calling for people to attend the rally removed.
AFP reports:
Russia's Internet watchdog Roskomnadzor said Sunday that the page has been blocked on orders of the general prosecutor.
The prosecutor "demanded to limit access to a number of resources calling for an unsanctioned mass event, including social networking groups. The demand has been fulfilled," RIA-Novosti news agency quoted spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky as saying.
The Facebook event, called "Public gathering to discuss the verdict", had over 12,000 people signed up at the time it was blocked, and now opens only through a non-Russian IP and only for non-Russian users.
Navalny, who has long been an outspoken critic of Putin, said he was disappointed by the lack of resistance on the part of Russian Facebook.
"It's a rather unpleasant and surprising behaviour by Russian Facebook," said Navalny, "I thought they would at least demand a court order rather than rush to block pages as soon as crooks from the Roskomnadzor (the Internet watchdog) ask."
The embezzlement charges against Navalny are widely believed to have been brought by Russian authorities as a way to silence Putin's biggest political foe.