The State of Media and Journalism in Russia
Freedom of the press is unheard of in Russia, with many major news outlets pumping out state propaganda, while the smaller, independent outlets are limited in a multitude of ways by the government. The crackdown has gotten worse since the invasion of Ukraine, with many journalism organizations being forcibly shut down. Even foreign journalists have been affected; many left the country shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Roskomnadzor, the government agency responsible for both monitoring and controlling Russia media, has forbidden anyone reporting in Russia from referring to the war in Ukraine as a “war” or “invasion”. Yelena Ivanova, the editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Svobodnye Novosti, said everywhere has become a minefield since the start of the war. Many outlets are closing down rather than face potential fines of up to 1.5 million rubles for breaking the new rules. Some anti-Russian media outlets have even been hacked; although it is unknown who orchestrated these cyber-attacks it can be assumed that it was done on behalf of the Russian government.
By forcibly closing down media outlets, along with shuttering social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter, the Kremlin is making it harder for its citizens to access opinions that are not being pushed by the state. This forces Russians to rely on the government-run media for updates about not just Ukraine, but also everything else going on in the world.
For Ukraine-related reporting this has meant that while prominent western media outlets have reported that the Russian military has attacked and executed Ukrainian civilians, both the Russian government and Russian media outlets have been able to claim rather successfully that everything being published in the west is staged. The Kremlin has continued to push the narrative that Russia and its military are liberating Ukrainian civilians from Western powers and “denazifying” the country.
However, many Russians have begun downloading VPNs to attempt to bypass the blocks created by the Russian government. Due to the demand for VPNs skyrocketing by over 10,000% as of last month in Russia, AtlasVPN said they expect the demand for VPNs to continue to increase. Instead of relying purely on Russian media, there are currently ways for citizens to get access to foreign news sites and social media feeds. However, only half of Russian internet users are on Instagram, with even less being on other prominent social media sites; only a portion of these users will download VPNs or find a way around the state-mandated block, many are likely to simply rely on the state-sanctioned media, and may not even know how to download a VPN.
The closure of social media sites, such as Facebook and Instagram, has also made it harder for Russians to communicate with others, both in and outside of Russia. It makes it difficult to organize protests and to gather accurate information. Russia then is tightening its grip on its citizens by limiting their contact with the outside world.
This and other closures of Western media sites has led to many other companies (Amazon, Apple, and others) ceasing operations in Russia. While this from a political, corporate and arguably moral perspective is a good stance to take as it damages the Russian government by highlighting clearly global opposition to it, it also harms the people of Russia. It makes it even harder for them to get access to reliable technology and to access independent sources of information. There is thus a fine line to be walked between actions that punish Russia, and actions that may inadvertently support Putin’s drive to entirely control information and its dissemination in Russia.