Stories about Russia from May, 2011
Russia Opens Its First “Creative Commons” Portal
Russian Institute of the Information Society created “Creative Commons Russia,” the first Internet portal in the country working under Creative Commons licenses, Russian collaborative blog Habrahabr.ru reported.
Russia: “United Russia” Party Targets Social Networks
Pro-government party “United Russia” plans to increase its presence on social networks, popular newspaper Kommersant reported. The party will create a separate group responsible for working with potential voters on social networks.
Russia: Video Shows Journalist Being Beaten in Khimki Forest
LJ user Oleg Kozyrev posted a video showing journalist Yuri Samsonov being beaten by a private security service employee in Kimki forest.
Russia: Bloggers React With Cynicism to Bin Laden's Death
The death of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, has provoked condemnation and talk of conspiracy theories among Russian bloggers. Quickly becoming one of the hottest topics of the Russian Internet, the death of Bin Laden did not divide netizens. In a rare instance of unity, Russian bloggers revealed their cynicism toward one of the most important events of this year.
Russia: Victory Day and Politics
Blogger Dmitry Sokolov-Mitrich recollects [ru] his feelings over the media coverage of the Victory Day. Due to over-politicisation and excessive advertisement through the media, the feeling of the national unity of the holiday faints, blogger claims. “I will not watch the parade this year, even on TV. But I will...
Russia: Photos and Videos of the Victory Day Parade
Blogger polyakovv publishes [ru] pictures and videos of the Victory Day Parade, a celebration of the end of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945 section of the World War II). Twitterers use hashtags #parad [ru], #pobeda [ru], and #9may [ru] to share their pictures and recollections of the holiday.
Russia: ‘Online Superman’ Navalny Has Bloggers Divided
Alexey Navalny is much more than a blogger. He exploded onto the Russian Internet with scandalous revelations, often against political figures, and quickly grew into the country's "online Superman," fighting what seems to be an unwinnable war against corruption and an army of human bots. Not all bloggers are diehard fans though; many still deeply distrust Navalny.
Russia: Livejournal Blocks Navalny's Post
Livejournal.com, the most popular blogging platform in Russia, blocked the post of one of the famous bloggers Alexey Navalny for violating the Livejournal terms. Navalny attempted to publish a screenshot from the Russian social network Vkontakte.ru that allegedly contained personal information of the person connected to the recent anti-corruption donors...
Russia: Problematic leniency towards corruption
LJ user SPbChel discusses [RU] governmental leniency towards corrupt officials as explanation of the failure of Russia's anti-corruption campaign.
Russia: Individual political funding
Vladimir Kara-Murza at World Affairs writes about the rise of individual citizen contributions to oppositional parties and organizations, and how the interests holding power in Russia relate and react to this.
Russia: Bureaucracy and corruption
Sean's Russia Blog presents reflections on Russian bureaucracy and corruption from current and historical perspectives.
Russia: Anti-Corruption Donor Details Leaked
In the middle of April 2011, donors to the Russian anti-corruption, whistle-blowing website Rospil.info [ru] began to report that they had received strange calls and emails from unknown people, some claiming to be journalists, asking about their donations to Rospil and why they support the website’s founder, popular Russian blogger Alexey Navalny.
Russia: E-Gov Blogger Discusses Technology and Transparency (Video)
Yekaterina Aksyonova, creator of gov-gov.ru, one of the most informative blogs about e-government in Russia, met with Global Voices at Central Asian BarCamp recently and answered several questions on the role of technology and transparency.
Russia: Who is Restricting the Russian Internet?
Russia's position in American non-profit organisation Freedom House's report "Freedom on the Net 2011" ratings has dropped from the previous findings in 2009. The report analyses freedom of access to the Internet in 2009-2010 in 37 countries. According to author Marina Litvinovich, to "liberate" the Internet and raise Russia's position in Freedom House's ratings, the Russian community must turn its attention to Article 282 and start a campaign to have it repealed.
Russia: Security Service Allegedly Exposed Data on Anti-Corruption Contributors
Andrei Malgin publishes [ru] stories and recordings of the bloggers who contributed via Yandex.Money (Russian analogue of PayPal) to Alexey Navalny's project “Rospil.info.” The contributors were contacted by the representatives of “Nashi” youth movement who knew all the details about their transfers. The blogger suggests that the Federal Security Service...
