Belarus Cracks Down On VKontakte

decora writes "On several recent Wednesdays, Russian language social networking site Vkontakte has been blocked by the government of Belarus. The blocks are partly to prevent the organization of 'Silent Protests,' in which citizens gather in city squares, and clap in protest against president Alexander Lukashenko. The government has designated the people involved as "social network revolutionaries" and charged many with disorderly conduct. One VKontakte user, Mikhail Karatkevich, is to be put on trial August 10 for 'organizing a mass rally' after he posted a meeting notice onto his page. According to Charter 97, the regime has even set up fake proxy servers to capture the unwitting; Tor is the suggested solution."

Comments

Re:Not that surprising from Belarus

[royallthefourth]

All the negatives of soviet style communism with none of the positives

Belarus avoided the collapse that plagued all other former Soviet republics (including Russia) by keeping its system intact and has a higher standard of living than the others because of it.
http://www.elenastravel.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?action=belarus#eco

Better to have a corrupt dictator running the country who otherwise believes in what he's doing than to have normal business interests running things, it seems.