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Kremlin Seeks to Control Online Media

Posted by Zonk on Tue Apr 10, 2007 09:09 PM
from the oh-i'm-sure-there-will-be-no-jokes-with-this-one dept.
Censorship Government Politics
reporter writes "According to a disturbing report just published by Bloomberg, 'As the Kremlin gears up for the election of Putin's successor next March, Soviet-style controls are being extended to online news after a presidential decree last month set up a new agency to supervise both mass media and the Web.' However, unless the Kremlin pursues Chinese-style/Turkish-style blocking of the Internet-Protocol addresses of web sites like 'The Economist', even the Kremlin cannot control the online media. If Putin pulled the plug on an anti-Putin web site inside Russia, the anti-Putin web site could simply be migrated offshore to a server in, say, the United States."
+ -
story

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Kremlin Seeks to Control Online Media 25 Comments More /

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  • Finally..... (Score:3, Funny)

    by edwardpickman (965122) on Tuesday April 10 2007, @09:16PM (#18684389)
    the Russians are doing something Bush can get behind and support.

  • Thats what happens when you let mafia run (Score:4, Insightful)

    by unity100 (970058) on Tuesday April 10 2007, @09:17PM (#18684399) Homepage Journal
    a country.

    sooner or later mobsters will show their true face and "weed out" competition.

    pity on any fools who think russia is a western, modern nation.

  • Russian internet brigades (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 10 2007, @09:20PM (#18684417)
    Maybe the Russian administration can't control the online media, but that sure doesn't stop them from trying.

    I suspect their government-sponsored trolls are also active on Wikipedia, where, besides pushing Russian propaganda, they try to suppress any mention of this phenomenon. Recently, an article on this subject (titled "Internet trolls squads") was voted into deletion, and now the resurrected article (titled "Internet brigades") has again been nominated for deletion by a number of persistent Russian editors.

    Read more about the phenomenon here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_brigades [wikipedia.org]

    See the discussion on deleting that article here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_fo r_deletion/Internet_brigades_(2nd_nomination) [wikipedia.org]

  • Relax, Putin's got a beautiful soul (Score:5, Insightful)

    by straponego (521991) on Tuesday April 10 2007, @09:23PM (#18684435)
    You can trust Putin, just as you trust his kindred spirit-- his soul-mate-- our own dear leader. I don't see why you're all so cynical.

    "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue... I was able to get a sense of his soul... He's a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country and I appreciate very much the frank dialogue and that's the beginning of a very constructive relationship," Mr Bush said.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1392791.stm [bbc.co.uk]

  • Moving... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by shmlco (594907) on Tuesday April 10 2007, @09:26PM (#18684451) Homepage
    "If Putin pulled the plug on an anti-Putin web site inside Russia, the anti-Putin web site could simply be migrated offshore to a server in, say, the United States." ...and then what? Putting it outside Russia means that blocking it's IP is probably easier to do, not harder. Then again, if I was doing it I'd let it run... and see who drops in.

  • Joking aside... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TheGreatHegemon (956058) on Tuesday April 10 2007, @09:27PM (#18684457)
    This is worrying. I personally feel Russia has been taking steps back as far as civil liberty goes, really I feel that the whole WORLD has been taking steps back.

    The internet is being reigned in now - this was possibly the last great refuge for free speech...

    Rather worrying.

  • Turkey not so bad (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 10 2007, @09:29PM (#18684481)
    I was just in Turkey and was able to visit every website I wanted which included newsites that were critical of AKP and other political parties and leaders in Turkey. Also, more importantly, porn sites can be reached without any problems.

    If you insult the founder of Turkey -- whose dead and thus not running for election -- then you get into trouble. Usually insulting the current PM - Erdogan - may get you sued by Erdogan but not likely your website is going to be blocked.

    China and Turkey are quite different in their levels of censorship. Critical political commentary is very common in the media in Turkey. This is an election year in Turkey too and I don't think you'll see any censorship of political opinion.

  • When will the 'Man' learn? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by haluness (219661) on Tuesday April 10 2007, @09:46PM (#18684585)
    We're in the 21st century. We've got the Internet, everybody (ok, most) is aware of blogs and the relocatability of information sources.

    So when will institutions learn that times have changed?

  • Parent Article: (-1, Troll) (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ezh (707373) on Wednesday April 11 2007, @12:33AM (#18685391)
    Bloomberg, just stop trolling with your articles. All the online press that Russians actually bother reading is already licensed by the Ministry of Press, TV Broadcast and Mass Media of the Russian Federation: Same goes for the most popular blog services: None of these businesses is going to risk their investments. The irony is that it is exactly the same in the U.S. as well - big companies just support one of the two candidates and nobody cares about the smaller ones. So Bloomberg and the rest, stop scaring your people while attempting to control them. And you, /. - take note. Cheers!

  • pure irony (Score:4, Insightful)

    by circletimessquare (444983) <<moc.liamg> <ta> <erauqssemitelcric>> on Wednesday April 11 2007, @01:44AM (#18685671) Homepage
    notice all of the subject change comments in this thread to criticism of the usa/ bush. right over the head of anyone who makes such a comment or mods such a comment up is that... drum roll please... THEY CAN MAKE THAT COMMENT IN THE USA WITH NO REPERCUSSIONS

    the issue here is that criticism of putin/ the russian government within russia is being censored. everyone get that? has the meaning of that observation sunk into your head yet? really?

    now go ahead and bash the usa, criticize bush all you want, and mod such comments up... in this thread... about russian censorship

    !?

    you're absolutely free to do so. get it yet?

    fashionable anti-americanism is no replacement for a functional brain. if in the context of commenting on russian censorship you still think it is somehow useful to bash the usa, all you are doing is making yourself look like a fool. you are just demonstrating your own lack of an elementary school level skillset at compare and contrast. it's amazing how prejudice blinds

    now don't get me wrong, the usa does plenty of wrong in this world (and plenty right... how's that thunderbolt of moderation strike you?), but to criticize a country with much better freedoms than russia (i said much better, not perfect, do you understand that difference?), in a thread about russian censorship, is just pure idiocy on the part of anyone who does so. all you do is make yourself look like a moron

    really, you're a moron if you think bashing the usa in this thread is useful, insightful, interesting, whatever. 100% unadulterated low iq cretin = you
    • Well this is what happens when your President was once a KGB chief.

          • Re:Like always in Russia (Score:5, Insightful)

            by Shihar (153932) on Tuesday April 10 2007, @10:37PM (#18684871)
            "Soviet style" is when you round up a few million people without trial and make them slaves in work camps in some place very cold and do this such that the vast majority of them die before there 'term' (if they even got one) is up.

            Take a fucking breather people. There are a lot of things to bitch about when it comes to the US and its direction. That said, the extreme hyperbole where you compare the Soviet Union justice system to the US makes you sound like an idiot not worth listening to.

            I am not happy with the direction that the US is headed in many regards, but people need to screw their heads back on and get some perspective. The US is not Soviet Russia. Hell, it isn't even close to the Russian Federation or China. The US is still very much a liberal place to live, and in many regards far more liberal in some areas then Europe. The US has a long way to fall before it reaches the level of Russian Federation (much less the Soviet Union).

            • Re:Like always in Russia (Score:5, Insightful)

              by AaronLawrence (600990) * on Tuesday April 10 2007, @11:18PM (#18685083)
              Slaves in work camps? You're thinking of Stalin times, 1930's to 50's. After Stalin died things got a LOT better - there were no mass killings for one.
              I don't think the US realises how radically the USSR changed during the time it existed. It was messy and dangerous but somewhat functional under Lenin; brutal under Stalin; Kruschev denounced Stalin and changed direction radically; then it gradually relaxed until there was not the heart to continue forcing it to exist.
              Discussing the Soviet Union as if it has always been that same entity from WW2 is pointless.

            • Re:Like always in Russia (Score:4, Insightful)

              by bytesex (112972) on Wednesday April 11 2007, @01:03AM (#18685501) Homepage
              It's called 'proportional judgement' and it's applied all the time: in Saudi you're not allowed to bring in a bible - should 'christian countries' disallow a quran ? Of course not. 'We' are expected to be 'better' than that. Palestinians kill people and Israelis kill people, yet we judge Israelis more harshly for it. We expect them to 'better', 'apply higher standards', 'be more careful'. The Russians implement laws that limit freedom and so does the US - not in the same way, and yet they're being compared. Why is that ? Because we expect the US to be 'better', 'more protected', 'less easily brought astray'. Anyone who has ever been in a debate must have encountered proportional judgement at some point. Haven't you ?

    • Re:Like always in Russia (Score:4, Insightful)

      by some damn guy (564195) on Tuesday April 10 2007, @10:12PM (#18684733)
      He is not an autocrat. George Bush looked into his eyes and he saw it for himself, a method far more powerful and revealing than any mere logical argument.

      Plus if this were true, would we have spent six years pissing off the entire world chasing two-bit terrorists while the government of the nation with the worlds most dangerous nuclear arsenal consolidated power and grew ever more despotic, violent and belligerent?

      So do be silly, Russia is a de-mocracy now, that means the problem is solved, friend.

    • Re:almost as bad as... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Shihar (153932) on Tuesday April 10 2007, @10:42PM (#18684907)
      You think that's bad, wait until the US gets full control over the DNS root.

      OMFG, that will be terrible! I bet the US will SHUT DOWN SLASHDOT. Now excuse me while I go look at prego-nazi-porn in one window while writing about how much of a TERRORIST GWB is.

      Yeah, I am sure the US getting the keys to DNS root will be a whole hell of a lot worse then the Russian Federation clamping on the last vestiges of free media in the Russian state. Everyone knows that the US eats more babies the North Korea, China, and Russia... COMBINED.

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