Russia Wipes Opposition Sites From The Internet

[MADem]

“I don’t even know if anyone is reading this anymore.”

Russia has all but eliminated the free media as it fights an information war against the West over Ukraine, with prosecutors blocking independent websites and other publications making editorial changes under obvious Kremlin pressure.
Russia’s general prosecutor’s office announced late Thursday that it was blocking the independent news websites Kasparov.ru, run by chess champion and self-exiled opposition figure Garry Kasparov, EJ.ru, and Grani. ru for inciting “illegal activity” and participating in unsanctioned protests. Prosecutors also banned anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny’s blog, by far the country’s most popular and a flashpoint for anti-Putin sentiment, on the grounds that posting to it violated the terms of his house arrest, which bars him from using the internet.
“I don’t even know if anyone is reading this anymore,” read a post on Navalny’s blog. The post said Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, and his Foundation for Fighting Corruption have been running the blog since Navalny’s bail was revoked Feb. 28. Numerous Twitter users reported that LiveJournal, the service hosting Navalny’s blog, and the Ekho Moskvy radio website, which reposted it, were entirely unavailable on some internet providers, though Russia’s internet registry said they had not been banned.
Russia passed a law late last year allowing prosecutors to ban websites that promote “rioting, racial hatred, or extremism” without a court order. The law also covers websites with foreign servers, which will be banned in Russia if their owner ignores a cease and desist letter. According to a list published by internet freedom activists, the only other websites to be banned under the law promote Islamic radicalism or white supremacism.
Russian President Vladimir Putin quickly moved to monopolize television, the majority of Russians’ sole source of news, in the early 2000s shortly after he took power, but for years was largely content to allow the country’s few dissenters space in print and online. After opposition activists bypassed an effective national media blackout through social and digital media to organize unprecedented demonstrations against him that catapulted Navalny to national fame, however, Russia began making steps to rein in the country’s few independent publications and passed a law allowing it to block websites on request.
The political crisis in Ukraine has seen the Kremlin escalate its efforts to assert control over the flow of information, with every major independent publication making surprise masthead changes under obvious political pressure. Thirty-nine employees of Lenta.ru, the country’s most popular independent news site, quit en masse Thursday after their owner unexpectedly fired its editor-in-chief. The founder of VK, Russia’s wildly popular Facebook clone, was forced out of the company in January by Kremlin-linked investors after pressure over his efforts to resist censoring opposition pages......

[NuclearDem]

1. And false equivalency in 3...2...1...

[Why Syzygy]

32. Is this false?

http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/government/

Like other technology and communications companies, Google regularly receives requests from government agencies and courts around the world to remove content from our services or to review such content to determine if it should be removed for inconsistency with a product's community policies. In this report, we disclose the number of requests we receive from each government in six-month periods with certain limitations.

Governments ask companies to remove or review content for many different reasons. For example, some content removals are requested due to allegations of defamation, while others are due to allegations that the content violates local laws prohibiting hate speech or adult content. Laws surrounding these issues vary by country, and the requests reflect the legal context of a given jurisdiction. We hope this tool will be helpful in discussions about the appropriate scope and authority of government requests.

[NuclearDem]

33. How is that the same thing at all?

Google complies with court orders or police requests barely over 50% of the time, and as far as I can see, the OWS, CPUSA, Green Party, GOP, and Freeperville websites are still up.

False equivalence.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Putin's cheerleaders (many of whom are anti-LGBT) will celebrate this

This is for Mother Russia!

[MADem]

8. Yeah, I know--I think it's becoming increasingly clear that they're backing the wrong horse. nt

[ProSense]

3. Russia: Media black-out ahead of disputed Crimea referendum

Russia: Media black-out ahead of disputed Crimea referendum

The Russian authorities have launched a full-scale onslaught on the few remaining independent media in Russia, blocking a number of internet sites in the Russian Federation, Amnesty International said..."The blocking of these sites is a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression. It is an unashamed attack on those who still dare to question the Kremlin-dictated narrative by providing independent, impartial information and offer a platform for free debate,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“In the past months and weeks the Russian authorities have embarked on a campaign to stifle free media. It started with unofficial censorship and self-censorship, and quickly evolved into open gagging of independent media outlets. This is reminiscent of the Soviet-era jamming of radio stations.”

The Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation ordered the blocking of several high profile sites for purportedly making “appeals for illegal activity and participation in mass events, organized in violation of the established order.”

The sites blocked include: Grani.ru, Kasparov.ru, EJ.ru, the blog of the opposition activist Aleksei Navalny on the Moscow Echo radio station website and the Livejournal.com website which hosts many popular blogs.

- more -

https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/russia-media-black-out-ahead-disputed-crimea-referendum-2014-03-14

[MADem]

4. +1 nt

[stevenleser]

5. I think we should take bets how much more oppressive Russia will need to get before supporters here

are forced to either go silent or publicly take back that support.

Even the Bush administration did not shut down DailyKos or DU or Smirking Chimp.

Russia is now officially worse than the Bush-led Neocon version of America of 2001-2008

[MADem]

7. A few of 'em---and they've been here for awhile, too--continue to double down.

It's got to suck being on the wrong side of morality, dignity, human rights, equality and, of course, history.

Your last sentence is probably the only perverse "bright spot" (said snarkily, mind you). A leader has got to be a repressive, sucky asshole to push the memory of Porgie to the back pages!

[SidDithers]

6. Happy to be rec #5...nt

Sid

[MADem]

17. +1 nt

[jwirr]

9. No matter what is going on it is obvious that putin learned his trade in the KGB. Having lived

through the cold war with the USSR this sounds all to familiar.

[MADem]

16. Of course he did, and he learned it on the ground as an operative in East Germany.

He obviously made some good connections during his career, and while in East Germany, supposedly left behind an out-of-wedlock son, too (bit of Pootie gossip, that). Be interesting to see what's up with that kid....

[jakeXT]

10. Kasparov as a Bilderberg member/attendee, the US isn't enforcing its laws like the Logan Act

The Logan Act (1 Stat. 613, 30 January 1799, currently codified at 18 U.S.C. § 953) is a United States federal law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. It was passed in 1799 and last amended in 1994. Violation of the Logan Act is a felony, punishable under federal law with imprisonment of up to three years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act

UPDATED, 11:24 a.m.: The meeting's gotten less secretive. The Bilderberg website now lists the 2012 Bilderberg Meeting participants. Among them are Keith B. Alexander from the National Security Agency, H.R.H. Prince Philippe of Belgium, Harvard professor Niall Ferguson, China's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ying Fu, Russian chess grandmaster and activist Garry Kasparov, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, President of the Environmental Defense Fund Fred Krupp and entrepreneur Peter Thiel. See the whole list here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/31/bilderberg-2012-global-le_n_1558788.html

[stevenleser]

11. We're making this about the Bilderberg conspiracy theory?

[MADem]

13. Sad and pathetic attempt at wooing Kasparov...

And by wooing, I don't mean romancing!

[MADem]

12. Not sure what point you are making, there...

You are crabbing about the attendance of a Russian civilian at a conference attended by a number of other people from countries all over the world, from inside and outside governments where the guest list is published. That's the ENTIRE guest list, and here it is: http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/participants2012.html

And your material is TWO years OLD.

So...what was that point you wanted to make? This has absolutely nothing to do with the Logan Act, which doesn't control a Russian chess player, so disabuse yourself of that chestnut straight away.

[jakeXT]

14. I wonder if Russia has similar laws and could enforce them against Kasparov, who in the past was

also a member of National Security Advisory Council

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_for_Security_Policy/National_Security_Advisory_Council

[MADem]

19. They've just shut him down and shut him up.

They obliterated his presence from the net. He's a defacto enemy of the state for daring to express disapproval with the Bear Riding, Fish Kissing, Tiger Hunter.

[jakeXT]

24. He is following McCain, Ted Cruz and Anne Coulter on twitter, I wonder what kind of president he

would be



https://twitter.com/Kasparov63

[Pirate Smile]

40. He's a RW'er.

[AverageJoe90]

42. That sucks, truly, but it doesn't excuse him being silenced by Putin, TBH. nt

[jakeXT]

52. He has a Croatian passport now, and will probably spend some time there

Garry Kasparov Gets Croatian Passport

The government said on Monday that Kasparov, who owns a house on Croatia's Adriatic coast, was granted a Croatian passport last week.

Croatian media have reported that Kasparov plans to run a chess academy in a coastal town and help introduce chess to Croatian schools.

Kasparov, 50, who first became World Chess Champion at the age of 22, has been a prominent opposition figure in Russia and a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin.

Croatian officials have praised Kasparov for his support for the country's struggle for independence from Yugoslavia during the bloody breakup of the former federation in the 1990s.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/garry-kasparov-croatian-passport-22748698

[joshcryer]

58. He follows Coluter to Colbert, Cruz to O'Donnell.

So not sure if this is relevant. He does appear to be highly anti-Putin so he will likely identify with anyone who criticizes Putin. Unfortunately the left tends to have a fascination with fascists like Putin on occasion.

[MADem]

63. He could be doing that for laughs, for all you know.

You don't think Left Wingers follow nutcases just to keep track of what they're doing? I suspect you might be cherry picking.

He also follows James Wood, The Last Word with Laurence O'Donnell, Nate Silver, Ronan Farrow, Cory Booker, Dump Russian Vodka (an LGBT effort), Human Rights Foundation, Oslo Freedom Forum, and NPR On Point, to name a few.

I'd say his list of "follows" for Twitter have more to do with getting a wide range of views rather than following an ideological path.

[ProSense]

20. What does the Logan Act have to do Russian censorship? n/t

[jakeXT]

26. As I said before, I wonder if they have something similar in Russia /nt

[ProSense]

28. Again, what's the relevance? n/t

[jakeXT]

35. They are afraid of regime change financed by the NED through figures like Kasparov or Navalny

A number of incidents from Navalny’s past, eagerly disseminated by pro-Kremlin media, have likely also influenced the negative perception of the anti-corruption activist. These include e-mail correspondence allegedly showing that a political analyst paid Navalny $50,000 for a smear campaign against the aluminum company Rusal, as well as Navalny’s participation in the six-month Yale World Fellows Program and acceptance of a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy.

http://www.thenation.com/article/175389/despite-his-politicized-trial-aleksei-navalny-still-divisive-figure-russia

In addition, Russia's opposition movement will surely want to use the successful experience and technology of the Euromaidan protests and, with the help and financial support of the West, try to carry out their own revolution in Moscow. The goal: to remove President Vladimir Putin from power and install a puppet leadership that will sell Russia's strategic interests out to the West in the same way former President Boris Yeltsin did in the 1990s.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/why-there-will-be-war-in-ukraine/495740.html

[ProSense]

36. The Logan Act has nothing to do with CTs, and that's irrelevant to the OP. n/t

[jakeXT]

37. What is CTs

[ProSense]

57. Conspiracy theories. n/t

[joshcryer]

56. Too high profile to go after.

They have plenty of laws that they could arrest him on.

[BeyondGeography]

15. Snowden lol

[HipChick]

18. LMAO!..

He sure picked a winner...

[Adrahil]

64. I'm waiting for his strongly worded statement!

.....still waiting......

[treestar]

21. Kick

Very unfortunate for the Russian people. They had seemed to be getting away from this sort of thing.

[Iliyah]

22. Seems like some here on the DU forgot or ignored the fact

that Putin has taken over all Russia's media. Something that most Libertarians/GOP would love to do here in the good USA. Also it appears that he will take over the Ukraine and probably appoint a President and thereby have those so called Russian elections ya'know the ones that will keep Putin in power forever. Any opposition will be silence including control of social media as well.

All the hoopla about America's 1st, 2nd, and 4th amendments that some here keep shouting about - hopefully will remain intact, but like Russia, if we allow certain fractions into power - say goodbye because it will only apply only a few.

[geek tragedy]

23. Yet some idiots still insist rt.com is a legitimate

news source that provides valuable insight, even though it is run by the same Russian government that shuts down other websites because they criticize Putin.

[7962]

54. Well, we have Infowars to tell us whats REALLY going on, so they have RT! nt

[DeSwiss]

25. Fancy that.

- We just murder our opposition.

[ProSense]

27. That

"We just murder our opposition. "

...has to be the most bizarre attempt to defend Putin.

I mean, can you point to where people "murder" is being used to silence people on DU, Daily Kos, Fox or any other Internet site critical of any U.S. adminstration?

[geek tragedy]

29. I'm sure you're going to produce examples of people being killed for criticizing the government

Because otherwise that's just a really lame attempt to deflect

[NuclearDem]

30. Putin does that actually.

Sometimes the poisons work, other times they just horribly disfigure somebody.

Democratic and Republican politicians, staffers, or voters aren't being assassinated by the government for being opposed to whichever party is in power.

[TwilightGardener]

31. Repubs still alive and kicking and screeching, so... no.

[hrmjustin]

38. Putin has done that.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

34. Won't be long before Putin's Russia collapses.

The fact is that Europe depends less on Russian gas than Russia depends on European gas consumers. The rest is politics.

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2014/03/12/europe-can-wean-itself-off-russian-gas/

(There was a DU thread about this, but I honestly don't remember it anymore; if someone can post the link to that, it would be appreciated.)

He sells the most primitive commodity imaginable, stuff to burn, and thinks that makes him powerful. In a few years, as more renewables come on stream and as alternate sources of gas and oil continue to be found, Russia will be irrelevant. Sanctions will hurt Europe in the short term, but they have the better hand to play on any time horizon that exceeds a couple of years.
It really is pathetic, how these leaders of countries that sell a single, primitive commodity on the world market think that should make everyone take notice of them. No one cares, except that these guys can irritate in the short term. In the long term, the world will spin on without their useless selves.

[Cha]

39. Good job reporting on this, MADem..

thank you.

[MADem]

46. I thought this was pretty salient! nt

[Cha]

53. I posted this in LBN about that yesterday..

And, here it is.. this is all we need to know.. just ask their supporters on DU..

"The Kremlin denies allegations of censorship or pressure on the media."

Don't read too much into the following.. he just wants to "influence".. ROFL

"He signed a law late last year allowing prosecutors to order providers to block access to sites deemed to have published calls for participation in demonstrations planned without the consent of the government. It took effect on February 1."

Putin's scared

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4661670

[MADem]

60. Demonstrations planned without the consent of the government...well, golly gee Gomer!

Can you imagine such a thing?



Who in their right mind could support a despot like that?

Putin should be scared, he doesn't have 'right' on his side! And neither does anyone who backs that little toad...!

[Cha]

61. Dupes. They apparently chose to overlook Putin as Chief Dictator and Gay Hater

in Russia and concentrate on the part that he's sticking it to the USA so he must be okay .

[MADem]

62. Well, there's also the perception of Putin as the Guardian of the Precious....

....er...Snowden. So long as Snowden is in Russia, Pootie gets a pass. It doesn't matter if he shuts down the net over THERE, it doesn't matter if his surveillance programs make ours look amateurish; so long as Ed is looking out over Moscow through his rose colored glasses, Pootie is just alright with them.

If Snowden had cut a deal to stay in China, all things Chinese would get the soft-focus lens. "Oh, go on ahead and buy that plastic crap in Walmart...it's part of the culture!!" and "A little melamine in your food won't kill most people or pets...!"

If he'd done a runner to North Korea, now, that would have been interesting to hear the excuse-making!

[AverageJoe90]

41. Yep. No doubt that Russia under Putin is trying to become a semi-fascist state now.

It's clear that Putin's hypocrisy vis-a-vis the Ukraine seems to know no bounds. I never liked any of the far-rightists(on the contrary, I'd think they'd be just as dangerous as Putin if they got into power!), or Mr. Yushchenko(may have actually won a fair election but was still not much better than Yanukovich), but Putin isn't one to talk. Period.

[Berlin Expat]

49. Read Aleksander Dugin's

"Foundations of Geopolitics". It pretty much spells out what the Russians up to.

Major downside - it's in Russian. This is the link to download it as a .zip file. If you can find a program that'll translate it, that might work for you.

http://translate.google.cz/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://www.alleng.ru/d/polit/pol043.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%25D0%259E%25D1%2581%25D0%25BD%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B2%25D1%258B%2B%25D0%25B3%25D0%25B5%25D0%25BE%25D0%25BF%25D0%25BE%25D0%25BB%25D0%25B8%25D1%2582%25D0%25B8%25D0%25BA%25D0%25B8%2B%28%25D0%25B3%25D0%25B5%25D0%25BE%25D0%25BF%25D0%25BE%25D0%25BB%25D0%25B8%25D1%2582%25D0%25B8%25D1%2587%25D0%25B5%25D1%2581%25D0%25BA%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B5%2B%25D0%25B1%25D1%2583%25D0%25B4%25D1%2583%25D1%2589%25D0%25B5%25D0%25B5%2B%25D0%25A0%25D0%25BE%25D1%2581%25D1%2581%25D0%25B8%25D0%25B8%29%26client%3Dubuntu%26hs%3DgGe%26channel%3Dfs

[joshcryer]

59. Yes! I've been saying this. Putin is following Dugin's roadmap.

You can read an English Language review here: http://www.4pt.su/en/content/aleksandr-dugin’s-foundations-geopolitics

Another review: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/OP294.pdf

No conspiracy theories necessary, he's following a new fascist model, it's pretty obvious.

[William769]

43. But I'll bet RT is still there.

Go figure!

[MADem]

44. Of course, that's the Pooter's Cuter Channel! nt

[blackspade]

45. This underscores Russia's bullshit claims about Ukraine.

This is about reclaiming territory.
And stifling opposition to the oligarchs.

[geek tragedy]

47. What did Glenn Greenwald, Julian Assange, and Ed Snowden collectively have to say?

Answer: We don't give a fuck about freedom of expression and privacy inside Russia.

[MADem]

48. I'm betting their websites aren't blocked...! nt

[stevenleser]

50. Here is their response...

[riqster]

51. Once a KGB butcher, always a KGB butcher.

Thanks for posting.

[Hekate]

55. Putin? Who'da thunk it? nt

[moondust]

65. And sanitizing.

Speaking of information war, a couple days ago on DU I linked to an international law website that on March 5 had translated and published parts of the 1997 treaty between Ukraine and Russia. Article 8.2 of the treaty details some of the restrictions placed on Russian troops in Crimea. There was a link to the original Russian text of the treaty which was housed on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Apparently the Russian gov't decided it didn't want anybody to see the treaty and sometime between March 5 and March 13 the document was deleted! I searched high and low on Google for the full treaty with no luck. Then joshcryer found it cached on Google!

As Al Sharpton would say, "Nice try, but we got ya!"

[ProSense]

66. LOL! Bravo!