Moscow, Aug 28 (IANS/RIA Novosti): A Russian IT company has denied any involvement in a project to develop software to monitor social networks and influence public opinion for the country's intelligence services.
The Iteranet company had a contract with the Foreign Intelligence Service of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, the Kommersant daily reported.
"We are not in the business of developing systems to monitor blogs and plant information in the blogosphere," Iteranet CEO Igor Matskevich told RIA Novosti.
"There have been no contracts of the type Kommersant claims. We do not engage in such activity." He declined to elaborate.
Kommersant said Iteranet's contract included systems to monitor and control the blogosphere and shape public opinion by spreading "special information" in social networks.