The Russian authorities are taking a heavy-handed approach to web monitoring, writes Maria Eismont
‘Error. The website you’ve requested either doesn’t exist, or is overloaded.’ This announcement greeted visitors to the electronic version of Russian independent regional weekly Vyatskiy Nablyudatel, a Kirov newspaper well known for its editorial independence and investigative enterprise, after its website was closed by its Internet provider on April 22. Khostingoviye telesistemi, the Moscow-based ISP, claimed it received an official letter from the Kirov regional police department saying the website contained ‘extremist’ opinion in the readers’ forum, insulting the vice-governor and the government of the region. ‘If you are the owner of this site and think this is a mistake please contact the technical support service,’ continued the announcement on the website.
The law on ‘counteracting extremist activity’ has broadened the definition of extremism to include media criticism of public officials, and carries a custodial sentence of up to three years for journalists, along with the suspension or closure of their publication. It was passed by parliament despite protests from human rights groups, who claimed that the vague language of the law would allow public officials to interpret it widely and use it to target their critics. The Russian prosecutor’s office is currently calling for the Internet to be placed under the same rules as print media.
The owner and editor-in-chief of Vyatskiy Nablyudatel, Sergei Bachinin, believes that the closure of the website was a political order, at a time of particular tension in the region following rumours of the governor’s resignation. Bachinin agrees that the forum comments were insulting and says they would have been immediately removed from the forum if he or his staff had noticed them in time. ‘The comments that the police refer to were indeed intolerable, threatening one of the government officials with physical violence,’ Bachinin explains, adding that usually such comments would be deleted from the website within a few minutes of a phone call from the police. This time, however, instead of calling the newspaper, police decided to act immediately through the provider.
A spokesperson for the regional police, interviewed by Moscow-based independent radio station Ekho Moskvy, said police are currently searching for the author of the insulting comment. He added that around ten websites had been closed in Kirov, although some of them were later restored. The spokesperson added that the website of Vyatskiy Nablyudatel may be restored after ‘clearing of all the violations of the law’ and that this problem can be solved ‘within legal grounds’. But lawyers say there is no legal basis for the decision of the hosting company and have advised Sergei Bachinin to sue the provider. Bachinin has since changed provider: his website is now hosted in Ukraine.
Prosecution for Internet comments is not new in Russia. A blogger from Komi in northern Russia was charged last year with inciting social hatred in the media after he posted a comment on his LiveJournal saying local police must be ‘periodically set on fire’ in the town’s main square. This case, still not over, has led to widespread indignation amongst LiveJournal users, many of whom see government intentions to regulate the blogosphere as a threat to the freedom of expression that RUnet, the Russian Internet, has so far enjoyed.
This is the second high-profile controversy for Vyatskiy Nablyudatel in the last five months. On the eve of the parliamentary elections last December, the entire print run was blocked from distribution after a local official from the Kremlin-backed Just Russia party claimed front page story headlined ‘Elections for traitors’ defamed him.
