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Massive interventions: How the Kremlin brings the Internet under its control

2019-11-28T07:26:20.944Z


Russia is expanding censorship on the Internet. In addition to users, more and more companies are also targeting the government. Moscow is establishing a "mass surveillance system," states a new study.



The local journalist Irina Slawina is to pay 70,000 rubles, the equivalent of almost 990 euros. For a post on Facebook. So far, it has been the highest fine imposed for "disrespectful" statements about the Russian state and society. The law came into force this year. It is one of many that restricts freedom of expression in Russia also on the Internet.

In Nizhny Novgorod, a city of millions 400 kilometers east of Moscow, 990 euros are a lot of money, the monthly income is around 440 euros. Slavina writes on her Internet portal Kozapress about corrupt officials, deputies who fly business class - she dares to write about what should have no place in the state reporting.

The journalist often writes emotionally - as in August, when representatives of the communist party of the city of Shakhunya in the Nizhny Novgorod region posted a commemorative plaque for the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Slawina was so outraged that she suggested on Facebook to change the letter of the place name so that it becomes an obscene curse word. She was fined for that. "I spend more time in the courts now than with my work," she says. She has seen in recent years, as the pressure increased.

Strategically important for the Kremlin

It affects not only journalists of critical (Internet) media, but all citizens in Russia. In a 76-page study published by Reporters Without Borders on Thursday, authors Ulrike Gruska and Gemma Pörzgen paint a comprehensive picture of how the Kremlin has systematically tried to control virtual space for seven years. An endeavor that seemed difficult for a long time in a country where the network was free and barely regulated unlike China, for example.

For the Kremlin, the Internet is now of strategic importance.

Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS

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The authors of the study give numerous examples, but eleven pages fills the overview of the laws. At first it was only about censoring users, the regime now has its sights on the structures. The technical implementation is still sluggish, but the interventions are massive. Reporters Without Borders speaks of a "Russian system of mass surveillance":

  • Users are condemned for online activities, as well as forwarded pictures and likes, such as when it comes to the so-called insulting religious values ​​or as in the case of the journalist Slawina alleged disrespect of the state. In addition, since this year, the spread of alleged fake news is punishable. However, this law, like many others, is spongy. Arbitrary application creates a climate of uncertainty and anxiety, the study said. The message: It can meet anyone.
  • Foreign investors are only allowed to hold 20 percent of Russian media companies. Foreign-funded media have had to register as "agents" since 2017. So far, there are ten offers such as the US station Voice of America and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. They were forced by the authorities to carry the defamatory label agent.
  • The signature of the president is still missing under the legislative amendment just passed by parliament, but it is considered a formality. With that journalists can be declared "foreign agents". Allegedly, this should only affect those who work for media companies or NGOs that already have this label. Since this law is also formulated unconcretely, it could hit almost anyone who receives money from abroad, says the well-known blogger Ilya Varlamov.

Mikhail Klimentyev / RIA Novosti / Kremlin / REUTERS

President Vladimir Putin: Always new laws limiting the freedom of the Internet

  • Almost 300,000 websites have been blocked by the media regulatory authority Roskomnadzor since 2012, often without a court order.
  • National telecoms and Internet service providers have been required to store connection data for three years since 2018, that is, information on who communicated with whom and when ("Jarovaya Law"). Content such as news, videos, pictures or phone calls must be held for six months. But not all companies have installed the necessary and expensive technology to date. Data about Russian citizens may generally only be stored on servers in the country. Headlines were made by the law, which came into force in November, according to which Russia wants to decouple its Internet traffic in the future, ie to channel it via its own country's servers "in case of emergency". In addition, all providers should install special technology with which the authorities can block pages. Even though tests are in progress and many technical issues are unclear, Reporters Without Borders speaks of a "new level of Internet censorship".
  • Messenger services are designed to help intelligence agencies read encrypted messages and provide decryption keys. Telegram refuses to do so until today.
  • While Russia's leading IT group Yandex, which offers a search engine among other things, is cooperative with the authorities, international companies have a different view. For a long time there were only threats, Russia has raised 2018 fines for displaying or linking prohibited or unwelcome content. The pressure has increased. Google deletes after case by case content, Facebook and Twitter refuse so far.

Reporters Without Borders criticizes Russia's leadership for violating human rights such as the right to privacy or freedom of the press in a blatant manner. That's why international corporations are unlikely to cooperate with Moscow, the organization appeals: "Otherwise they will become the censors' henchmen".

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2019-11-28

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