MOSCOW, June 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Interior Minister says the number of extremist crimes committed via cyberspace has significantly increased.

Speaking at a Wednesday session of the Russian lower house of parliament, Vladimir Kolokoltsev said: “Police constantly monitor the Internet to reveal extremist content, especially websites spreading calls for illegal actions.”

“The number of legal proceedings for extremist activity with the use of Internet resources has more than doubled last year,” Kolokoltsev said, adding that criminal action was brought against 186 people, while 386 people were subjected to administrative liability.

More than 7,000 extremist materials were deleted from the Internet and access was closed to 523 Internet resources, the minister said.

“Experts estimate that the measures taken helped to reduce the amount of extremist content by half or more,” he said.