Stories from RuNet Echo
8 May 2017
Oleg Kashin Explains How Russia Reinvented the Political Rumor Mill
RuNet Echo translates an article by Oleg Kashin about the messaging app Telegram, focusing on the rise of “channels” dedicated specifically to spreading anonymous political rumors.
Who's Paying for the Meme War Against Alexey Navalny?
The scheme comes in the wake of news about a major mudslingling campaign that the Kremlin was reportedly planning against Navalny.
7 May 2017
WeChat? Not in Russia You Don't.
Last week, Russia’s federal censor blocked WeChat, China’s largest mobile messaging app. According to Russia’s media censor, Roskomnadzor, WeChat failed to register with the federal government.
5 May 2017
Nyetflix and Dill: Putin Signs Law Regulating Foreign Online Streaming Services
Netflix and chill is looking more like Nyetflix and dill in Russia after Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill that restricts foreign streaming services' access to the Russian market.
4 May 2017
Don’t Be Alarmed: This ‘Red Button’ Is Meant to Help Russians
By connecting detainees with friends and human rights organizations more quickly than ever, the “Red Button” app hopes to provide protesters with greater protection from illegal arrests and penalties.
3 May 2017
Russian Psychological Center Insults and Then Outs Gay Man Who Called Its Support Line
Be careful when calling the hotline at “FROG,” a psychological help center; you might need more support after the call than you did before you picked up the phone.
1 May 2017
Navalny's Army Unmasks the State-Supported Radicals Out to Get Him
Following last week's startling attack, opposition leader Alexey Navalny is proving how useful it is to have millions of supporters among Russia’s young, energetic Internet users.
Life as a Vod, Russia’s Disappearing Ethnic Group
Made up of just a few dozen people, the world’s largest community of Vods lives outside St. Petersburg. Victoria Vziatysheva recently spoke to some of the Vods’ last living descendants.
The Kremlin Is Worried Attacks on Opposition Leaders Are Making Them More Popular
Days after Alexei Navalny was again doused with green antiseptic, the news website Gazeta.ru reported that the Kremlin had instructed regional authorities to crack down such attacks in the future.
27 April 2017
Three Ways the Russian Government Is Trying to Control the Internet
“The Internet was created as a special project by the CIA,” Vladimir Putin announced three years ago. Since then, Russian authorities’ faith in the Internet has declined even further.
26 April 2017
Russian Protest Movement Says It Will Press On, Despite Federal Ban
Despite being outlawed today by the Attorney General, opposition movement “Open Russia” says it’s continuing all operations, including plans for nationwide anti-Putin protests this Saturday.
25 April 2017
Russian Authorities Want Easy Access to Online Dating Logs
Do you hope to find love in Russia? If so, and you’re planning to use the Internet to meet people, the pursuit could be less private than you maybe hoped.
How Alexey Navalny Abandoned Russian Nationalism
Alexey Navalny had to reinvent himself to take charge of the Russian opposition, but he may have given up his populist edge over Vladimir Putin, along the way.
21 April 2017
This Is What ‘Racist Glasses’ Look Like in Russia
Russian animator Alexey Yurevich has produced his own version of Rudy Mancuso’s 2016 viral hit, “Racist Glasses,” using the same premise with a uniquely Russian spin.
The Day Russia Outlawed Jehovah's Witnesses
It’s strange to see this in writing, let alone know that it’s true, but here it is: Russia has formally banned Jehovah's Witnesses.
19 April 2017
31 Years Later, the Lights Come Back on in Chernobyl
Last week, group of Polish adventurers lit up the abandoned town of Pripyat, three miles from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
18 April 2017
The Kremlin Is Reportedly Planning a Major Mudslinging Campaign Against Putin's Biggest Critic
The Kremlin has reportedly decided to unleash a major mudslinging campaign against opposition leader Alexey Navalny, after his anti-corruption efforts shaved 10 points of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s approval rating.
Russian Math Instructor Faces Criminal Charges for Online Posts He Says He Didn't Write
The arrest of a Moscow math instructor has raised questions about the safety of using internet anonymizers in Russia.
17 April 2017
Pick Your Poison? Russian Orthodoxy or Banishment From Social Media
Critics of Vitaly Milonov, perhaps the most reactionary social conservative in the Russian parliament, have vowed to get him banned from Vkontakte, where his “online status” features an “illegal expression.”
14 April 2017
Can Russia Protect Its Journalists From the ‘Homegrown ISIS’ in Chechnya?
Alexey Venediktov, one of Russia's most prominent journalists, says the Russian government appears to have allowed a “homegrown ISIS” to emerge under its nose in Chechnya.
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