Moscow: The St. Petersburg Prosecutor's office Friday warned popular Russian social networking site VKontakte against the spread of an anti-Islamic film which has sparked riots across the Islamic world.
"The St. Petersburg Prosecutor's Office has issued a warning about the liability for the violation of anti-extremism legislation," the watchdog said in a statement posted on its website.
VKontakte's press secretary Vladislav Tsyplukhin said the network will remove the trailer to the film if a court finds it to be breaching the Russian legislation.
Prosecutors in several Russian regions have asked internet service providers to block access to the anti-Islam US film "Innocence of Muslims" with officials in the Siberian region of Omsk temporarily blocking access to the video sharing site YouTube where the film originally appeared.
Russian Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov has warned a nationwide ban may follow, under controversial new legislation due to take effect Nov. 1.
The US-produced amateur video, denigrating Prophet Muhammad, has sparked widespread protests across the Middle East and north Africa, some of which have turned violent.
US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stephens and three embassy staff were killed during an attack on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi earlier this month.
IANS
First Published: Friday, September 21, 2012, 23:45