Stories about Russia
Teen theatre production banned by Russian authorities for promoting ‘non-traditional family relations’
Russia has recently passed a series of socially conservative laws targeting activists, advocacy groups and online media for anything that can be construed as "promoting homosexuality to minors."
Russia’s latest ‘anti-fake news law’ is so bad even Kremlin pranksters hate it
Provisions of the new law make it clear that its real target are the online news outlets still not fully controlled by the state or its subsidiaries.
Russian rocket Soyuz launches the first OneWeb satellites, tethered to the ground by restrictive legislation
Russians' hopes for censorship-free online access crashed and burned after the authorities imposed strict regulations and full government control of the pioneering satellite Internet program.
USCYBERCOM attack gives Russian legislators new justification for tighter internet controls
Both pro-Kremlin experts and their opponents see the USCYBERCOM's attack on the "troll factory" as ammunition for isolationist policies.
As Putin preaches ‘sovereignty’ and tech modernization, experts lament loss of online freedoms
As Vladimir Putin promises Russians a faster, more reliable internet, two reports by independent expert groups paint an unrelentingly bleak picture of more crackdowns on online freedom of speech.
Russian ‘anti-fake news’ bill rushed through parliament despite vocal opposition
Both the "anti-fake news" bill and its twin initiative against offending the authorities use Germany and other Western countries' laws as inspiration.
Russia's isolationist ‘sovereign internet’ bill worries experts and users alike
Experts have pointed to the colossal costs associated with building the infrastructure required, and lamented that this would only lead to further monopolization of the Russian internet provider market.
Censored in 2018: Protest videos, court verdicts, real news — and Peppa Pig
From blocked websites to revoked media licenses to account shutdowns, censorship comes in many forms. Here are a few we saw in 2018.
Russian reporter who faked his own murder named a ‘person of the year’ by TIME magazine
TIME ignored the murder of three journalists while including a staged one. Why couldn’t both be included?
Macedonia's former ruling party organized a trolling apparatus for spreading hate speech, threats
A former Macedonian government official revealed that the former ruling party created and is still actively running online "troll farms".
