Russia Blocks Internet Sites of Putin Critics 309
An anonymous reader writes in with news about Russias censorship of internet sites critical of President Vladimir Putin. "Russia blocked access to the internet sites of prominent Kremlin foes Alexei Navalny and Garry Kasparov on Thursday under a new law critics say is designed to silence dissent in President Vladimir Putin's third term. The prosecutor general's office ordered Russian internet providers to block Navalny's blog, chess champion and Putin critic Kasparov's internet newspaper and two other sites, grani.ru and ej.ru, state regulator Roskomnadzor said. The move was the latest evidence of what government opponents see as a crackdown on independent media and particularly the internet, a platform for dissenting views in a nation where state channels dominate the airwaves. Ej.ru editor Alexander Ryklin called it 'monstrous' and a 'direct violation of all the principles of freedom of speech,' More at EFF, and in earlier stories at the The Huffington Post, and Deutsche Welle, which notes, 'This year's report by Reporters Without Borders on World Day against Cyber Censorship condemns Russia as one of the "Enemies of the Internet." "Russia has adopted dangerous legislation governing the flow of news and information and freedom of expression online," it concludes.'"
Reassembling the Soviet Union (Score:5, Insightful)
Sadly, Russia is turning more and more to Soviet ways. Putin was even rehabilitating Stalin.
Putin Reportedly Claims the Dissolution of the Soviet Union May Have Been Illegal [mediaite.com]
This may not end well.
Russia is evil again. (Score:1, Insightful)
It's nice that we've had 25 year break from facing global thermonuclear war, but Russia is an expansionist aggressive nation again. Mutually assured destruction may not work this time if Putin would rather die and take the rest of the world out with him rather then relinquish power.
Go find another thread to whine in (Score:4, Insightful)
There a topic that isn't about America? Well can't have that! Spin it to be about America! Redirect all topics to be on America, particularly whining about America!
Seriously, this American-centric bitching is really annoying. People need to knock it off. This is about Russia. That things are happening in America doesn't mean things aren't happening elsewhere. It also doesn't mean those things aren't of interest to the wider world. What is happening in Russia right now is of quite a bit of interest not just to Russians, but to Ukrainians, and to the whole of Europe. Also some people from the US might like to know too because hey, it is nice to be informed about the wider world.
So quit. Quit trying to make every thread about the US. There are lots and lots of those on Slashdot. When something comes up on a foreign country, let it be on that topic. The topic at hand is Russian media/internet censorship not NSA spying. That one is a little further down the front page.
Re:Until the NSA stops spying on America... (Score:5, Insightful)
There are other stories about the NSA and related matters on the page now, and over the last several days. I find it odd that you apparently didn't post in them. You kind of went off topic there.
Or just trying to deflect the heat off Russia? You even got there with a first post.
Is the rule we can't discuss anything other than the NSA? Are you felling personally oppressed?
Other parts of the world have problems besides the US. They can be discussed too. It isn't a "hollow" problem.
Re:Go find another thread to whine in (Score:5, Insightful)
There a topic that isn't about America? Well can't have that! Spin it to be about America! Redirect all topics to be on America, particularly whining about America!
What's ironic is that the folks who tend to do this, are just as likely to sneer that Americans don't care about anything happening outside the US.
Re:Hopefully Russians don't give up their freedoms (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Reassembling the Soviet Union (Score:5, Insightful)
As one of the great monsters of history, rehabilitating Stalin is an important bit of symbolism and tone. If Austria and Germany were to one day declare that they were reuniting in an act of self-determination by the German people, and then started making public pronouncements about the many great achievements of Der Führer, wouldn't that be cause for concern? Stalin killed far more than Der Führer.
Putin’s long game? Meet the Eurasian Union [bostonglobe.com]
Re:Until the NSA stops spying on America... (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh don't be so stupid. I'm no fan of the NSA's surveillance either but pretending that has any bearing this is complete nonsense.
About the only connection is that Putin's Russia is a warning about how bad it can get, so yes the NSA and CIA need to be reigned in somewhat, but the US isn't exactly as bad as Russia where the KGB, sorry, "FSB" as they prefer to be called nowadays, have their man in charge and basically run the entire show. At least there's still some semblance of separation between US intelligence agencies, the courts and the people who run the country still. In Russia it's all one big completely KGB orchestrated machine. The very fact the CIA had to try and meddle with the senate in itself shows they don't have that level of control over them yet, in Putin's Russia they'd have just had Feinstein and co. arrested on some trumped up charges and that would be the end of it.
So yes, whilst the US has lost it's right to preach on some issues (i.e. bitching at China for hacking) this is at least one area where it's hardly reached Putin-esque levels of dictatorship.
Stalking and being harassed even if that were happening on a widespread scale to all critics (it's not, people are still free to criticise - that's what you're doing for fucks sake and I doubt anyone is stalking or harassing you) is even then still a far cry from being beaten senseless and chucked in jail, or just outright assassinated with a bullet to the head by an assailant that never gets found (because they don't want to find him).
Re:Hopefully Russians don't give up their freedoms (Score:5, Insightful)
Normally I like to not try and blame the people for the actions of their leadership, but frankly I've lost all faith in the ability for the majority of the Russian populace to engage in any kind of rational thinking at this point. They are part the problem.
A couple of years back they were out in protest against Putin rigging the vote to put himself back in power and I thought hey, finally, the Russian people are taking responsibility for their state, and trying to deal with their dictator.
Now two years on, an Olympic games, a bit of propaganda, creating a hate target in homosexuals to blame societies ills on (just as Hitler did with the Jews etc.), an attempted annexation of Crimea, and the resurrection of Stalin as a popular deity and suddenly Putin has 70% approval ratings again.
So whilst there are clearly a good number of Russians that still want him out, at this point they're a minority by quite a stretch. It really is the Russian people that are the problem - you might as well just alias the nation as Dumbfuckland now, because it really is a nation mostly full of dumb fucks given the approval they're now giving Putin based on his fascist, dictatorial policies. I thought it was bad enough that my nation, the UK is full of people so easily swayed by populism, bigotry, and general ignorance peddled by the media, but the idiocy of many of my countrymen appears to pale compared to those in Russia. At least whilst our population recently argued against striking Syria by a decent margin. In contrast, the Russians positively support annexing the whole of the Ukraine, not just Crimea with about 59% support on latest polls.
I wouldn't put your faith in the Russian people, they mostly seem to be an extremely fickle, easily swayed bunch and Putin controls the media, so swaying them his way appears trivial.
Hypocrisy is always on topic (Score:1, Insightful)
, but the US gov't also tightly controls US society - so there is nothing to be smug about. Hypocrisy is an inconsistency between two things - the response when someone else does something, and when we do the same thing - the only way you can tell hypocrisy is to compare these two things. So if you only ever look at one thing at a time - and declare any comparison is 'off-topic' - then you will never notice any double standard.
Re:Tell Putin that you disapprove (Score:4, Insightful)
This is what I wrote. Do not copy this word for word, write it your way.
Dear sir,
I was aghast to learn that Russia has sought to stifle political dissent by blocking news sites and closing these sites. This is very much against the spirit of glasnost that the great Mikhail Gorbachev used some 25 years ago when he brought the Soviet Union into the modern world.
To be healthy a society needs its citizens to be able to speak freely, otherwise it will stagnate: innovation will suffer if new ideas are frowned upon, we live in a changing world, if we do not change then we slowly decline.
This is as much about science & technology as it is about politics. If you stifle political thought then you chill all thought and the country will suffer.
Mr Putin is putting his short term comfort before the long term health of Russia. Please tell him this this is neither good for Russia nor the rest of the world.
Please convey this email to the ambassador.
If you are not aware of what I talk about, please read: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/03/russia-blocks-access-major-independent-news-sites [eff.org]
Re:Hypocrisy is always on topic (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Reassembling the Soviet Union (Score:5, Insightful)
USSR was a secular theocracy. It treated Marxism - or "Dialectic Materialism" - as revealed truth, and as theocrats usually do, made more shit up as it went along. If and when reality disagreed with revelation, it got ignored or violently suppressed. And it never really changed: people got tired and disappointed with their prophet, just like they'd gotten tired and disappointed with the Czar earlier, and abandoned him. But the spirit of autocracy - the myth of divine leader - lived on, thus Putin is now enthroned as the new Czar, just like Stalin before him. Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss.
And no, USSR was not fascist. Fascism and Stalinism are both manifestations of something far older and nastier, a sickness that to some extent pervades all human societies. All who try to build a utopia reach the point where it seems the goal is just within range if they only sacrifice a few people to reach it. If they don't, the paradise remains flawed, and if they do, it turns into a nightmare - just like Soviet Union and various fascist regimes did.
Of course, the US also did exactly that to win the Cold War, and it seems the bill is now coming due. Time will tell how far the "land of the free" will fall before what it's unleashed is done with it.
Re:Until the NSA stops spying on America... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Reassembling the Soviet Union (Score:5, Insightful)
"Naturally I don't ask them to give up their culture. But I don't want them to force it on unwilling people on territory of Ukraine. This is absolutely inadmissible. "
Yet you want to force it onto them and when you do it it's not inadmissible? You don't see the hypocrisy in that?
"This is the reason Crimea rebelled."
Accept it didn't. In polling in February before this all happened only 41% of Crimeans wanted to join Russia. What's going on in Crimea isn't rebellion, it's Russian occupation - it's forced annexation of Crimea against the will of the people there - you know, that thing that on one hand you're saying is inadmissible, and on the other you're arguing for?
"If Ukrainian state respected Russian people as much Russian Federation respects its own people of different nationalities"
Yeah because it's so nice being Jewish in Russia and suffering attacks from Neo Nazis? It's so nice being Chechnyan in Russia and getting bombed to fuck? Outside of nationalities it's so nice being gay in Russia and being legislated against and beaten to death with the blessing of the state? It's so nice having differing political views than Putin and being beaten, jailed, or killed?
The only thing Russians look after in Russia are straight white Russians who conform to the will of Putin. Anything else and you're fucked.