
Russian social network has been targeted by some rightsholders and entertainment industry bodies for its perceived lax approach to copyright enforcement. Those arguments were put into perspective on Friday with a reminder that the Russian government may be an even more serious enemy for vKontakte. The social network was temporarily blocked on Friday after being added to a blacklist of sites by state communications regulator Roskomnadzor. The block was lifted after a few hours and blamed on a mistaken box-tick, but Reuters reports that it may have been “a shot across VKontakte’s bows” from the Russian authorities. Not due to copyright, but rather for the social network’s role in providing a forum for activists opposed to Russian president Vladimir Putin. The site’s founder Pavel Durov is already thought to have left the country after a traffic accident and a search of his home by investigators, while a Kremlin-linked investor recently acquired a 48% stake in vKontakte.