Monitor and Punish
Intensification of Control over the Internet in Russia
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The Internet in Russia has long been a refuge for the critical public. Here, independent reporting remained available, while newspapers and television broadcasters were more or less being brought into line. The Arab Spring and the protest movement in Russia 2011/12 changed this. The Putin regime is becoming increasingly rigid with regard to freedom of the press in the Internet. It has considerably expanded the scope of intervention granted the regulatory authority Roskomnadzor and pressured the major Internet companies into agreeing to the installation of monitoring and blocking technology. Almost all data traffic since 2015 has been monitored using the SORM system. To prevent the free dissemination of information and opinions in social networks, the Kremlin is now even relying on direct intimidation.
(Osteuropa 11-12/2016, pp. 3–14)