Ukrainians petition Facebook against 'Russian trolls'

Campaigners are urging Facebook to act against what they describe as Russian attempts to silence pro-Ukrainian voices.

They say numerous accounts critical of the Kremlin have been suspended following false reports of abuse filed from Russia.

Ukraine's president has urged Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to create a special administrative office to deal with the complaints.

Russia has not commented on the claims.

Addressing Mr Zuckerberg on Facebook, President Petro Poroshenko said: "We have to use all available channels to get reaction from global companies.

"Ukraine does need a Ukrainian Facebook office!"

Underneath, he shared Mark Zuckerberg's status inviting questions for his regular "Townhall Q&A" session on 14 May.

The top responses to Mr Zuckerberg's invitation were overwhelmingly pro-Ukrainian.

"Can you or your team please do something to resolve this problem?"asked the most popular comment, which had attracted more than 41,000 likes at the time of writing.

"Create a separate administration for the Ukrainian segment, block abuse reports from Russia, or maybe just monitor more carefully top Ukrainian bloggers, but somehow help us, please!" it said.

'We make mistakes'

In recent weeks, several prominent Ukrainian users of Facebook have had their accounts suspended after posting updates critical of Russia or Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

A Ukrainian poet, Andriy Bondar, fell foul of the social network's regulations by publishing a verse mocking the Russianmedia's fixation with Ukraine and referencing the popular hashtag, "What are Ukrainians up to?"