The “There Are No Foreign Agents, There Are Journalists” campaign comes as Russian authorities target a growing number of media outlets and individual journalists […]
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The websites of several prominent Western news outlets have been targeted by a pro-Russian influence operation that uses the websites’ comment sections to distort public opinion […]
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Russian news journals and websites have joined … to protest against … targeting by authorities of a growing number of independent media outlets and journalists under Russia’s controversial “foreign agent” law […]
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… the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin accelerates its campaign against independent journalism […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Aug. 23, 2021 The Kremlin was not behind Russia’s labeling of two leading independent media outlets as “foreign agents,” its spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday. On Friday, the Justice Ministry added the Dozhd broadcaster and investigative site Important Stories (iStories), as well as six journalists from iStories, to its registry of “foreign agents.” Kremlin critics […]
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MOSCOW. Aug. 19 (Interfax) – Moscow will not be trying to prevent BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford from obtaining or getting her visa extended if London applies the same approach towards Russian journalists in Britain, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. “As you know, we always keep our promises. We promised to respond and we did. But this […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 22, 2021) Russia has “successfully disconnected” from the world wide web during tests of its “sovereign internet” technology, the RBC news website reported Wednesday. Authorities have long flirted with tightening control over the internet on Russian territory, with past attempts to unplug from the global internet having mixed success. The June 15-July 15 test […]
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The designations are seen by Kremlin critics and analysts as an attempt to throttle independent journalism and retaliate against those who expose high-level corruption ahead of high-stakes parliamentary elections
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… state media monitor Roskomnadzor has prepared hundreds of complaints against RFE/RL’s projects … total fines levied could run to more than $3 million […]
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MOSCOW. July 1 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill compelling major foreign IT companies working with Russian audiences to open fully-fledged offices in Russia. The document was published on the official web portal for legal information on Thursday. The law compels foreign IT companies with a daily Russian audience exceeding 500,000 to open fully-fledged […]
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According to independent Medialogia monitoring site, Meduza was among the top 10 most-cited Russian-language Internet sources in 2020 and was the No. 1 “most-linked-to” in social-media posts […]
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A Russian court has sentenced five former police officers to several years in prison for the 2019 arrest of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov on trumped-up drug charges. … The journalist suffered bruises, cuts, a concussion, and a broken rib […]
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… The cacophony of leaks and claims has also helped muddy the waters around the events of May 23, making it increasingly difficult to untangle fact from fiction […]
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“A growing number of European countries are blocking access to Belarusian airlines. … after Belarus intercepted a commercial flight and removed and arrested Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist who was on board. … While Western democracies try to sanction Belarus, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, seems to support Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. … Fiona Hill … spoke to NPR’s All Things […]
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… Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media submitted a draft bill … requiring only commercial, and not state media, to be subjected to financial audits […]
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Analysts say Moscow’s muted reaction to the diversion to Minsk of a Ryanair flight speaks to the Kremlin’s ambivalent view of the strongman. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Felix Light – May 24, 2021) In the hours after Belarus shocked the world by forcing a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk and arresting prominent opposition […]
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… The company filed a lawsuit April 23 against Roskomnadzor in the Moscow Arbitration Court […]
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Durov … found[ed] … social networking platform VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, and later Telegram, the encrypted messaging app […]
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The [EU] has dismissed Russian authorities’ labeling of Latvia-based independent news outlet Meduza as a “foreign agent” and urged Moscow to end its “systematic infringement” of basic rights and freedoms […]
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Film director Vitaly Mansky … was in the news throughout the festival in Moscow and St. Petersburg as he was closed down by the authorities and attacked by pro-Kremlin activists […]
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Since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rise to leadership more than 20 years ago, tensions have increased steadily between Russia and the United States […]
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… Russia’s online retail space, which for years had lagged the U.S. and Europe, exploded during the pandemic […]
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According to U.S. officials, Russia is the likely perpetrator of the SolarWinds cyber compromise of federal agencies, private sector firms, NGOs and academic institutions […]
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The latest attack on Novaya Gazeta is making some of its editors wonder how long it can survive in the country. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Felix Light, Pjotr Sauer – March 25, 2021) On the way to work at Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta last Monday morning, journalists noticed a strong chemical stench on the street outside their central Moscow […]
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The Kremlin’s efforts to block social media to protect itself are proving counterproductive, Russian observers say […]
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[This] new website features open access to the full set of the bilingual journal “Transactions of the Association of Russian-American Scholars in the USA” […]
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The share of Russians relying on television as a main source of news continues to decline, while the number of those who depend on social media or internet publications for news is on the rise […]
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“Russia’s communications watchdog accused Twitter … of violating Russian law … failing to delete banned content …, putting more pressure on a platform used by Kremlin opposition activists …. [The Russian government asserts that] [i]f the company fails to remove the content it could face fines of $100,000 or more …. [and for] a second offense, the fine is increased […]
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The basic questions at play … are not unique to Ukraine, though they are sharpened by Russia’s aggression in the Donbas and Crimea: Who defines the boundary between disinformation and dissonant opinions? […]
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Disinformation by Russia and its allies has increased sharply … Western responses have been weak and uncoordinated … Striking Back presents concrete recommendations for aggressive messaging to combat Russian disinformation […]
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Subject: The Saker and Unz Review Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2021 From: Eliot Borenstein <eb7@nyu.edu> Dear David, As you know, I’ve been an avid reader of Johnson’s List for over two decades, and I really appreciate all that you do. But I continue to be puzzled by your editorial policy. While I understand and applaud the desire to go beyond […]
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… Republican and Democratic lawmakers called for new sanctions against Moscow if the Kremlin moves to enforce stringent restrictions and punishing fines that threaten RFE/RL’s news operations in Russia […]
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Telegram has blocked and shut down hundreds of public calls for violence on channels connected to the recent events in the United States, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said […]
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… Navalny has announced … he will return to Russia … following months of recuperation after being poisoned by a Novichok-type nerve agent …. Compelling evidence indicates he was poisoned by … FSB[] operatives …. The Kremlin has said it was not involved … but has refused to cooperate […]
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The Russian-language … Google posted its end-of-year video summarizing … top searches and main events in 2020. Spoiler alert: it’s as depressing as you think […]
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New research shows the growth of mobile internet leads to falling trust in governments, with Navalny as the prime example. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jake Cordell – Dec. 4, 2020) The rapid spread of mobile internet around the world over the last decade has directly contributed to falling levels of trust in government and a surge in populism, according […]
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While the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in public administration is bound to grow, a machine cannot yet be the leader of a state, … Putin […]
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The historic 1986 Reykjavik summit between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan will be the backdrop for a new satirical film […]
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“The Kremlin has … pushed proposals for the United States and Russia to work together to protect elections against hacking …. Putin expanded the proposal into a package deal: the two countries would pledge not to interfere in each other’s internal political processes, and they would also restore dialogue, devise a mechanism to prevent cyberattacks, and share information on cybersecurity. […]
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… According to the survey, … 48 percent of Russians rely on state television for their news and information while 44 percent rely on the Internet […]
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But if the Kremlin critic is unable to return to health, Russia’s opposition will lose its most recognizable leader. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Evan Gershkovich- August 27, 2020) While Russia’s most prominent opposition politician Alexei Navalny lies in a coma in a Berlin hospital after suffering an apparent poisoning last week, the pressure on his activities continues back home. […]
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Washington is “deeply concerned” by fresh efforts by Russia to target foreign media operating there […]
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“… Belarusian election officials published … preliminary results … [indicating that] Lukashenko … won more than 80 percent …. radically contradict[ing] [opposition] reports … say[ing] [Svetlana] Tikhanovskaya won 70 percent. … Tikhanovskaya’s campaign refuses to recognize the election’s results … [S]he called on ‘those who believe their vote was stolen’ ‘not to remain silent.’ … [R]eporting suggests … tens of […]
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“The group started out as an online discussion of hobbies, schoolwork and sometimes politics. But then it was infiltrated by an informer for Russia’s all-powerful security services.” “… [T]he chat group … was joined by a new member who promoted unusually strident views … and pushed to turn the online chatter into a political movement …. [He] gave his name […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 6 (Interfax) – Over half of Russians (58%) use their home PCs at least several times a week, as against 43% in 2010, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) said in a statement seen by Interfax on Thursday. The survey indicates that number of Russians who have several PCs, including laptops, at home, has grown over eight […]
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U.S. officials have identified three English-language websites that they say Russia is using to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic to exploit the U.S. struggle to contain the outbreak […]
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“Declassified U.S. intelligence accuses Moscow of pushing propaganda through alternative websites as Russia refines techniques used in 2016.” “… Russian military intelligence, … the G.R.U., has used … ties with … Russian government information center[] InfoRos[] and other websites to push out English-language disinformation and propaganda about the pandemic, such as amplifying false Chinese arguments that the virus was created […]
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