‘Social networks spread extremist ideas’ – prosecutor

Extremists use social networks to promote their ideas, Russia's Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has said, adding that dozens of criminal cases has been launched on the matter.

“Unfortunately, the popularity [of social networks] plays into the hands of extremists,” Chaika said in an interview with state daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Therefore, prosecution bodies regularly monitor the internet in order to reveal publications connected with extremist and terrorist ideas. On the results of prosecutors' appeals courts deliver rulings on limiting access to such materials. These decisions are then submitted to internet providers that can install content filtering and ban access to extremist websites on Russia's territory, Chaika said. Last year, law enforcement agencies unmasked a few groups registered in one of the popular Russian networks that united several thousand members of an extremist organization banned by the court.Currently, dozens of criminal cases are being investigated. However, the prosecutor general noted, these measures are not enough since the majority of extremist websites continue to operate and post prohibited information. “The main reason behind that is that servers which spread extremist materials are registered outside Russia's jurisdiction,” Chaika explained. It also makes it rather difficult to get information about people who make such posts and bring them to court. “Currently, we keep working on improving the legislation in this sphere,” Chaika underlined.