Russia’s media watchdog is taking credit for China’s decision to lift a two-year ban on the popular Russian social media website Vkontakte.
Vkontakte was banned in China in January 2016. The social network has faced accusations of cooperating with the Kremlin and manipulating web content.
“We persuaded our Chinese colleagues that Vkontakte takes an extremely responsible position in relation to its audience,” media watchdog Roskomnadzor wrote Thursday, recounting a September 2017 meeting with Chinese censors.
Roskomnadzor vouched for Vkontakte’s efforts to “systematically prevent, monitor and remove illegal content that may harm its users.”
The watchdog estimated the network, which boasts 97 million monthly active users, has around 300,000 users based in China.
“We congratulate them on this development!” it said.
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