Elena Vlasenko
Legendary radio service kicked off airwaves

Legendary radio service kicked off airwaves

Last week was a painful one for free speech in Russia. Tens of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Moscow bureau journalists were fired within two days. First an entire internet department, then radio hosts, reporters and producers --- around 90 per...

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Putin’s grip on the internet

Putin’s grip on the internet

Vladimir Putin says [Ru] he doesn’t use the internet very much.  But he has definitely recognised its power. The biggest protest rallies in post-Soviet Russia, against Putin and his party United Russia, were organised online. No wonder that...

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Pussy Riot versus the Religarchy

Pussy Riot versus the Religarchy

The destiny of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich has merged with the future of Russian democracy. The three members of feminist protest group Pussy Riot face charges of hooliganism, after allegedly...

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Is this the start of the Great Firewall of Russia?

Russia prepares internet blacklist

A draft law is set to create a digital blacklist of Russian websites which promote drugs or suicide or contain contain porn or "extremist" materials. The draft law would allow websites to be blacklisted without judicial oversight --- it merely...

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