Putin says Russia needs more ‘positivity’ on social media

Amid growing concerns about absurd criminal prosecutions against Russian Internet users, Vladimir Putin visited an educational forum on Wednesday and told the team behind an online animation studio that they’re giving the Web something it gravely needs: “positivity.” “Social networks need 100 percent positive [content], which it often lacks,” the president said.

Russia's biggest social network has come under fire for collaborating with police in a ramped-up crackdown on irreverent Internet memes. After promising to introduce new privacy settings that will supposedly make it harder for law enforcement to monitor accounts and reposts, Vkontakte now says it will publish a transparency report about the Russian government's requests for user data.