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Kremlin May Tighten Up Internet Use In Russia

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  • Kremlin May Tighten Up Internet Use In Russia

    KREMLIN MAY TIGHTEN UP INTERNET USE IN RUSSIA

    Iron grip on media does not extend to internet, but authorities' attitude to
    censorship could be changing

    Luke Harding in Moscow
    guardian.co.uk,
    Tuesday 30 June 2009 16.16 BST

    Russia is not China. And so far there has been no attempt by the
    Kremlin to crack down on the web, which is the last remaining source
    of free information for ordinary Russians in an otherwise controlled
    media landscape.

    The authorities keep an iron grip on television, ensure that most
    newspapers toe a pro-government line, and keep critics off the
    airwaves.

    Recently, however, there are signs that the Russian government
    is reconsidering its laissez-faire attitude towards the internet,
    especially in the wake of Iran's web-driven "green revolution".

    Several Russian bloggers who have posted critical articles have found
    themselves charged with extremism. One is in jail. Another was arrested
    after comparing Russia's prime minister Vladimir Putin to a penis.

    The Kremlin also uses other darker strategies for getting its PR
    message out, employing dozens of young, patriotic bloggers to flood
    chatrooms with a pro-Kremlin message, and to attack its enemies.

    Writing in last week's Moscow Times, the economist Yevgeny Gontmakher
    revealed how he came under "massive attack" from government bloggers
    after criticising Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin's chief ideologue.

    He concluded: "The modern Russian propaganda machine permeates nearly
    every major media outlet and even extends to the blogosphere." As
    well as the Russian language blogosphere, bloggers are also active
    in the western press, including the Guardian.

    Overall the picture is fairly dismal. "Today's Russia is an
    authoritarian state where a corrupt and illiberal ruling elite
    maintains its power through media manipulation and the subversion of
    the democratic process," the US-funded watchdog Freedom House said
    in a report this month.

    Still, the situation in Russia is better than in former Soviet
    central Asia.

    According to Oleg Panfilov, director of Moscow's Centre for Journalism
    in Extreme Situations, former Soviet countries can be divided into
    three categories.

    The first includes Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and probably
    Azerbaijan, where the internet is absolutely free. The next includes
    Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, where the web is
    largely or partly free. In the last category are Turkmenistan and
    Uzbekistan, Central Asia's most repressive, and generally paranoid,
    republics. Here, there is severe censorship. In Uzbekistan even
    the BBC's website is banned, although you can watch BBC World TV in
    upmarket Tashkent hotels.

    The country's secret police maintain a vigilant watch on net use,
    and have arrested users in internet cafes. There are ominous signs
    that more countries across the region are beginning to follow the
    Uzbek example.

    Journalists, human rights groups and the Organisation for Security
    and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) have all decried recent proposals
    by Kazakhstan to introduce a new law on the internet. Under the law
    the government will be able to regulate forums, chats, blogs, and
    even online shops. Eight months ago Kazakhstan banned LiveJournal,
    the most popular social networking website among Russian-speakers,
    as well as a dozen opposition sites.

    The restrictions have spilled over into neighbouring Kyrgyzstan,
    which uses the same web servers. Enterprising Kazakhs are getting
    round these restrictions by using proxies, but the overall picture
    is not an encouraging one.
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