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Top Russian Social Network Blacklisted By 'Mistake'


Founder Pavel Durov's VKontakte page
Founder Pavel Durov's VKontakte page
Russian regulators have lifted a ban on VKontakte, Russia's top social-network website, hours after blacklisting the site by "mistake."

Regulating agency Roskomnadzor said one of its employees, instead of blocking a single page deemed inappropriate, had mistakenly barred the entire website from distributing content across the country.

VKontakte's founder, Pavel Durov, has been at odds with Russian authorities since defying an order by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to shut down online forums used by opposition activists to organize protests.

Durov, 28, has also refused to testify as a witness in a traffic incident in St. Petersburg in which a policeman was slightly injured.

He denied being involved.

Durov has not been seen in public or posted on his VKontakte page since April 24 and his whereabouts are not known.

Based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax, and ITAR-TASS

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

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