State of Internet Censorship in Russia

Russia has a long history with Internet censorship, but recent legislation gives the government more power than ever to restrict online speech.  Russia’s government has not needed special legislation in order to stifle online speech.  For example, in 2004 the Kremlin pressured Lithuania into shutting down the Kavkaz Center, a website of an independent, international [...]

Russian ISP temporarily blocks LiveJournal portal on a court order

A Russian Internet service provider unintentionally blocked the entire Russian portal of LiveJournal in one region of Russia while fulfilling a court order to block one LiveJournal blog.  Though service to LiveJournal has been restored, the incident demonstrates the ease of overblocking, made all the easier following the passage of a new law in Russia [...]

Russian government latest to propose state-sponsored social network

The Russian government plans to launch a Facebook-esque social network on which users can use their personal accounts to upload content and create groups.  While this decision would make Russia one of a number of countries launching state-sponsored social media platforms, it remains unclear whether such a site could rival widely available popular alternatives in [...]

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