Russia's Feds Now Using Bloggers to Investigate Bloggers

Last week, blogger and corruption fighter Alexey Navalny was on top of the world, after he published information that led to the eventual resignation of a Duma deputy. The Russian Internet, however, is a fickle mistress. Today, Navalny is himself the victim of bloggers, thanks to the Federal Investigative Committee.

World's Grumpiest Traveler Smiles Virtually :-)

It's not true that Vitaly Zelkovsky [ru], better known as “the world's grumpiest traveler,” never smiles. He does – virtually, at least. Reacting to the unexpected fame, Zelkovsky re-posted a...

Russia's New Media: Too Clique to Fail?

The previous version of OpenSpace.ru was much less political in nature and was presumably shut down for financial reasons. It reopened a month later with a revamped website and a new team at the helm. It also didn't last as long as the old.

God Exists and He Serves the Kremlin

Though the Pussy Riot trial is over, the culture war it launched in Russia drags on unabated. Pope Benedict's abdication sparked the latest conflagration, when political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky addressed the Catholic leader's decision, calling it a path the Orthodox Patriarch ought to follow. In response, Parliament members have asked federal investigators to consider a criminal case against Belkovsky.

Kazakhstan to ‘Work Closely’ with Bloggers

Marat Tazhin, a senior government official in Kazakhstan ordered [ru] yesterday the creation of a database of the most popular bloggers and moderators of major social media networks in the country....

MDG Consultations Held in Tajikistan

Blogger Teocrat calls [ru] on Tajikistan's young people to contribute to public consultations on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The aim of the consultations is to review progress towards the MDGs...

A Fistful of Bloggers: Russian MP Pressured to Resign

Duma Ethics Committee Chairman Vladimir Pekhtin resigned today after a week of pressure from bloggers and the media over undeclared Florida property.

Journalist's Stabbing a ‘Warning’ for Tajik Opposition

A Tajik journalist and critic of the regime is in hospital after being stabbed in Moscow. The netizens in Tajikistan have little doubt that the attack on the journalist was politically motivated and that it was a taste of things to come in the months leading to presidential elections due in November.

Russian Opposition, What Are You Doing? Stahp.

The Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition has been a fascinating eDemocracy experiment, conducted in the shadow of Russia's competitive authoritarian status quo. Yet, a recent decision not to nominate candidates for any elections—local or regional—has intensified doubts about the KSO, making it a target for one of the RuNet's more vicious attack memes.

VIDEO: Harlem Shakes Ukraine

Popular Internet video meme Harlem Shake [en] has reached Ukraine. On February 16, 2013, YouTube user Vladislav Stankevich [ru, en] shared a video of several costumed people dancing to the...

RuNet Skeptical About Chelyabinsk Meteorite

The tendency of the RuNet to amplify conspiracy theory explanations of any given event cannot be overestimated.

Tajik Civil War ‘Will Continue’

Unless ALL the sides [that fought against each other in the 1990s] admit their fault and say, "Yes, we did kill, we did start the conflict," the civil war will continue... It looks like we are ashamed of admitting that we are all to blame for the bloodshed.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Turkmen Statistics

When it comes to statistics, the Turkmen government remains committed to the time-honored Soviet principles of book-cooking, data fudging and avoiding the uncomfortable truth at all costs. 'Good' statistics, such as the rising grain harvests, are triumphantly covered by state-run media, while bad news are never reported.

For Russia's Comics, it's Raining Meteors

Although the shock wave from the Chelyabinsk meteorite injured hundreds of people, RuNet users have been more eager than ever to crack jokes and spread memes.

The Chechen President's Unlikely Instagram

From the start it was obvious that the anonymous album was being updated by either Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov himself, his press secretary, or someone equally close.

Blood on the Russian Tracks

Earlier today, the Russian Railways concluded its official investigation into the death of Elena Soboleva, who died on January 18 crossing the tracks at the Saltykovskaia train platform [ru], located just...

As Pope Resigns, Russians Resigned to Putin

Without any real interest in the repercussions of Pope Benedict's resignation for the Catholic faith, the RuNet defaulted to its favorite pastime, humor.

The Bobs 2013: Now in Ukrainian, Too!

Deutsche Welle's 9th annual The Bobs online activism awards are now open for nominations of Ukrainian-language blogs [uk]. Ukrainian journalist Mustafa Nayyem, who is on this year's international jury panel,...

“Pedophile's Guide” Lands Russian Blogging Platform on Blacklist

Russia's Federal communications monitors have tagged blog-hosting portal lj.rossia.org as illegal, after discovering an account that publishes translations of the American book "The Pedophilia's Guide to Love and Pleasure" by Phillip Greaves.

RuNet Freedom: a Pirate's Revenge

Amid brazen attempts to censor the RuNet, one group is fighting back. On February 4, the Pirate Party of Russia has announced a new specialized internet hosting service, called the PirateHost, created in retaliation to attacks on Russian internet freedoms.

Escaping Russia's “Vulgar, Primitive” Secularism

Vladimir Putin has given another speech in defense of Russian Orthodox values, this time calling on the Church to study the lessons of the twentieth century. "We must avoid a vulgar, primitive understanding of secularism," he told the Bishops' Council, a massive gathering of Orthodox clergy. Putin's comments are hard to divorce from several conservative legislative efforts in the last year.