The Tightening Grip of Censorship in Russia
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, social media has been restricted or banned in Russia—but a few outlets continue their coverage.
By Finley Muratova
While President Putin’s regime has been known for its propaganda and censorship efforts, in recent weeks, since the start of the war in Ukraine, the situation has worsened dramatically. Escalating media shutdowns—imposed by the Russian government and the companies themselves because of the increased sanctions—have affected news outlets, social media and streaming services.
Last week Russian authorities blocked Facebook and restricted access to Twitter. In response, Twitter has banned accounts belonging to RT and Sputnik in the European Union—in accord with EU sanctions. These media outlets are often accused of promoting a pro-Putin agenda. Instagram began marking pages of pro-Putin or state-funded outlets with a “Russian state-controlled media” tag. TikTok chose to temporarily stop allowing users in Russia to post on the platform, and Netflix suspended its streaming services inside the country. This list of restrictions goes on and expands to messengers such as Telegram and larger platforms such as YouTube, OnlyFans, Twitch, and others. Notably, the platforms with restricted or blocked access can still be accessed from Russia through a VPN service “placing” you in a different country.
Arguably, the worst of this censorship hit the press. There have been multiple new laws implemented to prevent the media from publishing anything divergent from the official “party line” of Putin’s government. Here’s a breakdown of a few of them, as analyzed by Novaya Gazeta:
- Criminal Code of Russia, article 207.3: “Public dissemination of preemptively false information about the use of the Russian military.” Breaking this law can be punished by up to 3 years in prison and a fine of 1.5 million rubles if there was no “selfish” (which can be interpreted widely) motive. With such a motive or if the investigation determines the disseminated information led to damages, the prison sentence can be anywhere between five and 15 years, with the fine rising up to 5 million rubles.
- Criminal Code of Russia, article 280.3: “Public activity aimed at discrediting the use of the Russian military with the goal of protecting Russia and its citizens as well as supporting international peace and safety.” Breaking this law is punished by a fine, lower for individuals and higher for any legal entity, which newsrooms would be considered to be; a person who repeats the offense within one year can be sentenced to three years in prison.
- Criminal Code of Russia, article 284.3: “Calls to and encouragement of restrictive mechanisms [i.e., sanctions] against Russia, Russian citizens, and Russian entities.” Breaking this law can be punished by a fee of half a million rubles and a prison sentence of up to three years if the offense is repeated three times within 180 days.
Novaya Gazeta captioned the Instagram post explaining these newly introduced laws with an ominous line: “From now on a journalist, just like a person working with land mines, can make a mistake only once.” Novaya itself opted to continue to work and publish limited content relating to the war as well as subjects such as torture of the arrested anti-war protesters. The limitations Novaya imposed on itself include: not referring to the war as such and calling it “what the government doesn’t let us name,”as well as pausing its news desk operations so it can continue the coverage of the war without endangering its journalists or the newspaper. Novaya has also removed a number of articles, in accordance with the government’s demands, to avoid the blocking of its website.
Sadly, Novaya was alone in continuing reporting, at least among the Russian media considered free and not “state-controlled.” Echo of Moscow, Novaya Gazeta’s longtime colleague, published numerous anti-war letters, and as a result was taken off air and, then, liquidated on March 3, 2022. TV Rain (also known as Dozhd) had access to its website blocked across Russia and, on March 4, 2022, it paused its operations to navigate the rapidly changing situation and to protect its journalists from possible criminal charges. Unfortunately, the number of outlets unavailable in Russia without a VPN grew and included Meduza, DOXA, and others. IStories (also known as Important Stories) and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project were even declared “unwanted entities” under the Russian law, meaning any collaboration with them can lead to criminal charges for the collaborator.
What do these grim developments mean for the already weak state of freedom of speech in Russia? It might mean censorship will become absolute, even though there’s still an independent outlet (i.e., Novaya Gazeta) operating inside the country. The reality, while bleak, might worsen once journalists begin getting arrested. The independent press in Russia as well as the Russian media in exile need the international community’s support now more than ever. There’s an idea spreading among some editors in Russia to support organizations such as Reporters Without Borders as well as potentially setting up a separate non-profit to enable journalists from across the globe in exile to continue their work. While foreigners can’t donate to Russia-based outlets without repercussions for said outlets, you can donate to the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, each working with the Russian press. But, most importantly, just don’t stop paying attention. Don’t avert your eyes from the devastating news. If you follow the war in Ukraine and the censorship in Russia you will find out in time once an action item arises.
The Tightening Grip of Censorship in Russia | The Nation
^ Fair play. The specific point as it applies to "Us" is that we have always prided ourselves, and certainly not been backward in saying, that we are an Open Society, that does not practise censorship outside of criminal conduct such as incitement to violence, outright libel etc- and allows freedom of speech and expression. We also praise our independent media, and openly denigrate other societies and cultures that do not allow that freedom of the press.
Do we still have that right, that moral high ground? I believe not.
It is a bit ironic that a Russian owned messaging and social media site, Telegram, has been thrust into the spotilght for not practising censorship, filtering, or cancel culture- whatever your 'narrative'. It is booming as a result.
Last edited by sabang; 22-04-2022 at 07:34 AM.
The great firewall of China: Xi Jinping’s internet shutdown
In December 2015, thousands of tech entrepreneurs and analysts, along with a few international heads of state, gathered in Wuzhen, in southern China, for the country’s second World Internet Conference. At the opening ceremony the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, set out his vision for the future of China’s internet. “We should respect the right of individual countries to independently choose their own path of cyber-development,” said Xi, warning against foreign interference “in other countries’ internal affairs”.
No one was surprised by what they heard. Xi had already established that the Chinese internet would be a world unto itself, with its content closely monitored and managed by the Communist party. In recent years, the Chinese leadership has devoted more and more resources to controlling content online. Government policies have contributed to a dramatic fall in the number of postings on the Chinese blogging platform Sina Weibo (similar to Twitter), and have silenced many of China’s most important voices advocating reform and opening up the internet.
It wasn’t always like this. In the years before Xi became president in 2012, the internet had begun to afford the Chinese people an unprecedented level of transparency and power to communicate. Popular bloggers, some of whom advocated bold social and political reforms, commanded tens of millions of followers. Chinese citizens used virtual private networks (VPNs) to access blocked websites. Citizens banded together online to hold authorities accountable for their actions, through virtual petitions and organising physical protests. In 2010, a survey of 300 Chinese officials revealed that 70% were anxious about whether mistakes or details about their private life might be leaked online. Of the almost 6,000 Chinese citizens also surveyed, 88% believed it was good for officials to feel this anxiety.
For Xi Jinping, however, there is no distinction between the virtual world and the real world: both should reflect the same political values, ideals, and standards. To this end, the government has invested in technological upgrades to monitor and censor content. It has passed new laws on acceptable content, and aggressively punished those who defy the new restrictions. Under Xi, foreign content providers have found their access to China shrinking. They are being pushed out by both Xi’s ideological war and his desire that Chinese companies dominate the country’s rapidly growing online economy.
The great firewall of China: Xi Jinping’s internet shutdown | China | The Guardian
They still do- literally millions of them. So you might say, it has devolved into a two tiered society in this respect. Firstly, you have the intelligentsia or 'urban elites'. They have VPNs, commonly read and write English, even have Twitter, FB etc accounts if they so want- in the multiple millions. Basically they enjoy the same internet access we do. Then you have the proverbial 'Great Unwashed'. Most neither speak or read English, probably have no great interest anyway outside of the Celestial kingdom, no VPN (might not even know what that is)- so what they get is what they are fed. I don't like the fact it is going the same way in the west.Chinese citizens used virtual private networks (VPNs) to access blocked websites
Has the US Gov't attempted to revoke Fox News broadcasting license? Censored Breitbart from the internet? You know the answer.
As for private social media companies, they are, well, private businesses. Allowed to set their own terms and conditions that users agree to in order to use the platform. Don't like it, then start your own.
Except that they don't. Nice try. That's as silly as OhWoe stating that Chinese can voice their opinions openly
And yet English isn't the only language out there - a bit odd coming from you, as you are usually anti-Anglo in many instances.
Luckily it isn''t.
In this instance? Definitely 'we' do . . . and who is 'we'?
Migratory birds of mass destruction
April 21, 2022 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
Albatross, famous migratory bird, is also a love bird. It is known for being monogamous, forming long-term bond with one partner that is rarely broken. Mated pairs never split up until one bird dies.
"The UN Security Council held an extraordinary event on April 6 under the rubric Arria Formula Meeting on Biological Security regarding the biological activities in countries including Ukraine. Predictably, the US and UK representatives didn’t show up at the event and the western media also blacked out the proceedings. But that does not detract from the profound significance of what transpired. The highlight of the Security Council proceedings lasting over two hours was the disclosure by General Igor Kirillov, chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, that Washington is creating biological laboratories in different countries and connecting them to a unified system.
He said the US has spent more than $5 billion on military biological programs since 2005 and detailed that in territories bordering Russia and China alone, about 60 facilities have been modernised during this period. The Ukrainian network of laboratories is designed to conduct research and monitor the biological situation consisting of 30 facilities in 14 populated locations.
Highly sensitive materials from the Ukrainian biological laboratories were exported to the US in early February just before the Russian special operation began, and the rest were ordered to be destroyed lest they fell into Russian hands. But the cover-up was only partially successful. Indeed, Russia is in possession of highly incriminating evidence.
Previously also, Russia had released a number of documents related to the biological military activities of the Pentagon, which pointed toward a worldwide project to set up biological laboratories in rival countries with the goal of developing targeted viral weapons against those countries.
The proceedings of the Security Council conference on April 6 are in the public domain and are accessible.
Russia has made specific allegations, pointing finger at:
- Pentagon funding for the bio-labs in Ukraine;
- Location of these bio-labs(not only in Ukraine but in 36 countries around the world);
- Diseases and epidemics on which research work is going on, focusing on the means for their release, the countries where they are being tested (even without the knowledge of the governments of these countries); and, of course,
- Experiments relating to coronavirus (and bats used to transmit this virus).
However, the US has so far point-blank refused to accept any supervision and verification of such incriminatory evidences and has stonewalled the demand for a verification mechanism. It is unlikely that the US will permit an international verification process that holds the potential to expose it as indulging in crimes against humanity — although there are appropriate frameworks in place including the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the UN, to hear the clarifications from the relevant country in a fair and impartial manner.
A mind-boggling “discovery” that Russian forces in Ukraine stumbled upon is the use of numbered birds by the Pentagon-funded labs. This almost falls out of science fiction and Sir Alfred Hitchcock could have made an epic movie out of it where deception mixes with innocence and man’s cruelty to nature becomes unbearably grotesque. The project works like this:
To begin with, the Pentagon accesses the scientific data available with environmental specialists and zoologists after studying the migration of birds and observing them throughout the seasons, relating to the path these birds take each year on their seasonal journey from one country to another and even from one continent to another.
On the basis of this data, groups of migratory birds are caught, digitised and capsules of germs are attached to them that carry a chip to be controlled through computers. They birds are then released to the flock of the migratory birds in those target countries toward which the US intelligence has malevolent intentions.
Of course, these migratory birds travel great distances. The wandering albatross, for instance, is known to migrate at least 8500 km eastward across the South Pacific to the coast of South America, and many shy albatrosses migrate westward across the Indian Ocean to the coast of South Africa.
During the long flight of the birds that have been digitised in the Pentagon bio-labs, their movement is monitored step by step by means of satellites and the exact locations are determined. The idea is that if the Biden Administration (or the CIA) has a requirement to inflict harm on, say, Russia or China (or India for that matter), the chip is destroyed when the bird is in their skies.
Plainly put, kill the bird carrying the epidemic. Sadly, my mind goes back to the novel by the American author Harper Lee To Kill a Mocking Bird, the haunting story of innocence destroyed by evil.
To return to reality, once the “digitised” bird is killed and the capsule of germs it carries is released, the disease spreads in the “X” or “Y” country. It becomes a highly cost-effective method of harming an enemy country without any need of war or coup d’état or colour revolution.
The Russians have made the shocking claim that they are actually in possession of such migratory birds digitised in the Pentagon’s bio-labs.
International law expressly forbids the numbering of migratory birds because they freely criss-cross the blue sky and air of other countries. By supplying them with germs, these birds become weapons of mass destruction. What human ingenuity! But the US enjoys total immunity from international law.
The bottom line is that only the US intelligence — and President Biden, perhaps, if he remembers — would know where all humans have been infected so far in this century by the Birds of Mass Destruction. Was Ebola that devastated Africa a test case and precursor of things to come?
What about Covid-19, which is known to have originated from funded laboratories that were administered by the US? It is very likely that the US might have used migratory birds to kill Chinese citizens. Clearly, the US in its desperation to reverse its global decline is pulling out all the stops to restore its hegemony in a world order that is inexorably moving toward multipolarity."
Migratory birds of mass destruction - Indian Punchline
A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.
^ That’s right. The Chinese deliberately released a virus, hoping to screw the rest of the world.
Now that same virus has come back mutated to screw the Chinese in the ass.
You are so amusing.
If there's any analogy for chinkystan that involves birds, it would be Cuckoos, for a whole lot of reasons.
With a VPN, you can set your 'proxy location' as anywhere you want in the world. Presumably, you would not set it to Nth Korea. Kindly explain how a tech savvy Chinese person with VPN does not enjoy the same level of internet access we do. Furthermore, using a web browser like Tor, you can avoid the recent epidemic of 'filtered content' (ie censorship) plaguing the west. Of course, we can do the same too. More tech patents are coming out of China these days than any other country, by a considerable margin. It is not at all difficult for such people to avoid the 'national firewall'- and there is no real evidence that it bothers the CPC at all. I mean, it is endemic.Except that they don't. Nice try.
Do you mean Chinese tech patents, or stealing intellectual property from others and copying it?
You can not patent stolen and copied intellectual property Einstein.
Guess you must love this -
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