VKontakte has banned advertising of ways to leave Russia

In the social network “VKontakte” it was forbidden to advertise ways of moving from Russia. In particular, it is forbidden to post ads about obtaining a residence permit of another country, studying abroad or moving business abroad. This was reported by businessman Aleksey Pospekhov, owner of the business relocation service.

VKontakte also prohibits advertising of any consulting services for moving or relocation. This follows from the screenshot of the response from the support service of the social network, which was published by Pospekhov.

The VKontakte press service explained the situation with an “incorrect support response”. Representatives of the social network argue that the moderator simply asked the advertiser to make changes to the advertising post, which allegedly violated the rule about the ad not matching the content of the page. The VKontakte press service claims that other advertisements about relocation from Pospekhov have been moderated and posted on social networks.

In 2021, the VK Group holding was headed by Vladimir Kyryenko, the son of the deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kyryenko. In the same year, VK came under the control of Gazprombank and Sogaz, which are controlled by a friend of President Vladimir Putin, Yury Kovalchuk.

After several waves of migration of Russians in 2022 due to the war and crisis, a similar ban was introduced on government-controlled media sites and mass media.

In January, the management of VKontakte demanded that the departing employees return to Russia under the threat of dismissal. The company explained this with server security issues and reluctance to allow leaks in the company. Employees were prohibited from working remotely from abroad.

• For the past few years, Russians have been regularly fined under various articles for comments or posts in VKontakte. Often this is an article about inciting hatred – in relation to representatives of the authorities, law enforcement agencies or pro-Kremlin journalists. Comments on social networks are also fined according to the article about the discrediting of the army.
• “VKontakte” is included in the list of organizers of information dissemination. Companies included in this list are obliged to collect and store user data, as well as provide it to special services upon request. Other VK Group services include Odnoklassniki and Mail.ru.