“I’m an American,” a young Russian under the username Neurolera exclaims in English on the popular video-sharing app TikTok as she explains how to impersonate a tourist to avoid arrest at a street demonstration.
Her video — published ahead of rallies planned in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny — has been viewed more than 500,000 times while videos demanding Navalny’s release garnered hundreds of millions of views on the platform.
In Russia, where state-controlled media outlets coexist in stark contrast to online platforms popular among the opposition, authorities have ramped up efforts to contain and even replace sites that are seen as a threat.
Photo: Reuters
YouTube has become the primary source of news for many young Russians. The videos of Web star Yuri Dud, known for his interviews with celebrities, or anti-graft campaigner Navalny are seeing more success.
Soon after Navalny’s arrest, his team published a two-hour investigation into a lavish palace on the Black Sea allegedly belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The video has been viewed more than 60 million times on YouTube since its publication on Tuesday.
Russian authorities have in the past few years started tightening the “Runet” — the Russian segment of the Internet — in the name of fighting extremism, terrorism and protecting minors.
In 2019, Russia passed a law for the development of “sovereign Internet” aimed at isolating the Runet from the worldwide Web, a move activists fear could tighten government control of cyberspace and stifle free speech.
Russia’s media watchdog Roskomnadzor this week reacted to a wave of calls for protests in support of Navalny by threatening social media networks with fines if they do not delete content inciting minors to participate in the demonstrations.
On the eve of the rallies, Roskomnadzor said that TikTok “deleted 38 percent of information inciting minors to dangerous illegal actions,” adding that other social networks including Instagram and YouTube also removed content on its request.
Platforms that do not comply can face fines of up to 4 million rubles (US$53,120), Roskomnadzor said.
Russia has already banned a number of Web sites that have refused to cooperate with authorities, such as the video platform Dailymotion and professional networking website LinkedIn, but banning YouTube, which is owned by tech giant Google, would prove a more difficult task.
“Roskomnadzor doesn’t have a lot of funds,” said Artyom Kozlyuk, head of Roskomsvoboda, a digital rights non-governmental organization. “They have practically no leverage.”
It is difficult to put pressure on Western social networks, which would be “dealt a blow to their reputation” if they made concessions for a political regime, he added.
In the case of TikTok the procedure could be facilitated by the Kremlin’s proximity to China, an expert in Internet censorship, but Moscow still comes up against a lack of knowledge of this popular social network.
Kremlin-funded broadcaster RT on Wednesday said courses would be offered to officials to help understand slang on sites such as TikTok.
Authorities are aiming to build local competitors such as “RuTube” — which belongs to Russia’s leading media holding Gazprom-Media controlled by energy giant Gazprom — a video platform that has only government-approved content.
So far the site pales in comparison to YouTube, but Gazprom-Media chief executive officer Alexander Zharov, the former chief of Roskomnadzor, said that in the next two years it plans to launch an improved version of RuTube.
He also announced the development of a “Russian TikTok.”
Yet Kozlyuk said that after more than 20 years of free Internet, these efforts are coming far too late.
He said that the authorities “missed their chance.”
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS