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Investigation Committee brings charges against VKontakte ‘death group’ admin

On November 15, Russia’s Investigation Committee announced that the administrator of a so-called 'death group' in the VKontakte social network, instigating children to commit suicide, was arrested

Filipp Budeikin Peter Kovalev/TASS

Filipp Budeikin

© Peter Kovalev/TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, November 22. /TASS/. VKontakte social network ‘death group’ administrator Filipp Budeikin, arrested last week, has been charged with persuading kids to commit suicide, a source in the St. Petersburg Office of the Investigation Committee told TASS on Tuesday.

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Russia's VKontakte social network user detained over persuading kids to commit suicide

On November 16, St. Petersburg’s Oktyabrsky District Court arrested Budeikin for two months, until January 14. According to the investigators, around ten ‘death group’ admins from various Russian regions were interrogated, some of whom testified against Budeikin telling that he had been persuading underage children to commit suicide by sending them messaged through the social network.

On November 15, Russia’s Investigation Committee announced that 21-year-old Filipp Budeikin (known as Filipp the Fox on the Internet), administrator of a so-called "death group" in the VKontakte social network, instigating children to commit suicide, had been arrested in the Moscow region. The Investigative Committee said that investigators had been conducting searches in ten Russian regions. According to the Committee, from December 2013 to May 2016, eight virtual groups had been established on the VKontakte social network to promote suicidal behavior and drive underage users to commit suicide. The access to these groups had been limited with membership provided by administrators.

Investigators established 15 related cases of child suicide in various Russian regions while five more kids failed to commit suicide.

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