Latest posts by Gregory Asmolov
Russia: Police violence towards journalists and bloggers
Russian journalist and photoblogger Ilya Varlamov was threatened and attacked by Russian policemen when he covered oppositional demonstration in Moscow. He posted his story and photos [ru] of the attacker on his blog. Another story of police violence against a photoblogger during the same demonstration was told [ru] by Dmitriy...
Is Russia's Political “Black Hole” About to Reach Tipping Point?
In December 2011 Russian voters will elect a new parliament, and than in March 2012 a new (or perhaps, not so new) president. Analysts predict that the upcoming elections threaten a confrontation between the old political parties and their new, network-based, alternatives.
Russia: President Medvedev Meets Russian Internet Community
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met leaders of the Russian Internet community for three hours of discussion about Internet regulation. Gregory Asmolov, who took part in the meeting, shares his impression and analysis of the President's approach to the regulation of the Internet.
Russia: New Government Initiative Questions the Nature of Online Monitoring
Russian authorities declared that they are interested in developing new system for monitoring of online content. The document of the tender for the new system not only provides information about what Russian government is interested to monitor, but also exposes its attitude towards information technologies.
Russia: Internet Freedom As Cold War 2.0
Gregory Asmolov analyzes bloggers' reactions to the Internet Freedom speech by Hillary Clinton.
Russia: Bloggers Protest Against Educational Reform
Blog-based address [RUS] to Russian leadership with demands to cancel educational reform has received more than 10 thousands voices of support [RUS] within two days. Bloggers protest against wide reform of the high school that would reduce number of compulsory subjects to 4 while leaving such disciplines like Russian language, mathematics,...
Russia: Blogger Released After 14 Months of Penal Colony
Irek Murtazin [RUS], blogger and former spokesperson of the Tatarstan's president, has been released today after spending more than 14 months in penal colony, “Novaya Gazeta” reported [RUS]. After published a gossip about the death of Mintimir Shaimiev, president of Tatarstan Republic, Murtazin had been accused of defamation and sentenced to 2 years...
Russia: Domodedovo Bombings Expose Imbalance Between Traditional and Social Media
Social media played a significant role in the coverage of the terrorist attack in Domodedovo International Airport near Moscow. Russian bloggers and journalists discussed the consequences of increasing role of blogs and Twitter in emergency situations. Gregory Asmolov analyzes the roles of the government, traditional and new media in the coverage of the attack.
Russia: Students Launch Online Map of Illegal Gambling
Students of Saratov University of Technology launched gdecasino.ru, a crowd-sourcing website dedicated to map illegal gambling sites. A representative of Russian police said [RUS] to “Komsomolskaya pravda” newspaper that the website has already helped to close few illegal casinos.
Russia: Internet Industry Stays at Home
Emma Barnett, digital media editor at “The Telegraph“, summarized reflections from her recent trip to Russia and explained “Why the Russian Internet doesn't need the West.” According to Barnett, the Russian Internet industry is “self-contained and self-sufficient” and it has no “ambition for the foreseeable future to expand internationally.”
Russia: Bloggers Choose RuNet Events of 2010
LiveJournal administration published [RUS] list of the most memorable events and personalities of 2010 chosen by bloggers. The winners: Wikileaks, Moscow mayor's resignation, wildfires, riots on Manezhnaya square, investigation of corruption in Russian pipeline company “Transneft”. Ilya Varlamov (Zyalt) has been chosen as the best blogger, and the photo of the year...
Russia: Putin's Palace Exposed on Ruleaks
The Russian Wikileaks website published photos [RUS] of what is allegedly known as Vladimir Putin's $1 billion-worth palace on the shore of Black Sea . The story of the secret construction has been exposed [ENG] by Vedomosti newspaper few weeks ago.
Russia: Bloggers on Lessons of Tunisian Revolution
The outcome of the Tunisian protests has provoked people worldwide to think about political change. One of the major questions discussed by Russian bloggers is whether the possibility of similar scenario in Russia exists.
Russia: Ushahidi Project Adresses Problems of Russian Winter
“Help Map for Russian Winter” (Holoda.info), a new crowdsourcing project, was launched in Russia to address the problems of people who are affected by cold weather. RIA Novosti news agency reports [RUS] that the website's goal is to raise awareness about people suffering from the lack of heating and other...
Russia: Regional Minister Hired Through Internet
A new minister for information technologies of Russia's Ulyanovsk region has been found through Internet [RUS]. Elena Balashova, 35, was one of 2,563 people who submitted their online applications for the position. The candidates used Livejournal to share their professional plan and were interviewed via Skype.
Russia: Author of Wildfires Internet Meme is Prosecuted by Police
A blogget top-lap, an author of a famous blog post [ENG] demanding “rynda” from Vladimir Putin and criticizing the state's response to Russian wildfires closed his blog [ENG] and disappeared. In the last posts, he wrote [RUS] that Russian police conducted a search at his home, took his computer and...
U.S.A.: Liveblogging in the Middle of New York Storm
A Russian Livejournal blogger Etotam can't reach his home for two days due to snow storm in New York. He is liveblogging and posting pictures [RUS] from his car in the middle of a street (check out more than ten blog posts).
Russia: Is Internet Guilty of Organizing Nationalistic Riots?
Russian media and blogosphere ponder who is responsible for the nationalists’ riots in Moscow in mid-December. But the authorities found their own scapegoat – the Internet.
Russia: List of Regional Governors’ Online Tools
“Vedomosti” newspaper, published [RUS] a detailed list of online tools of Russian regional governors. The list includes links to personal websites, blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook profiles, and even YouTube channels.
Russia: A New Initiative to Release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Few days before the court will announce its verdict on the second trial of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a new online initiative suggests to promise president Medvedev electoral support in exchange of Khodorkovsky's release. Led by Mikhail Gurevich, executive director of Russian media corporation RBC Group, the project launched a Facebook group [RUS]...
Russia: President Medvedev Argues with a Fake Lawmaker's Twitter
President Medvedev had a Twitter clash with a fake Twitter account of Alexander Khinshtein, Russian lawmaker. The clash was about Medvedev's relations with the Belorussian president Alexander Lukashenko. Surprisingly, real Khinshtein apologized for the fake accounts’ critique. According to RT, “fake top official's accounts flood RuNet.”
