Russia: Newspaper editor intimidated by local authorities

13 Apr 10 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized

The mayor of  Murmansk a city in north-west Russia, has been accused of censorship by the editor of  Vecherni Murmansk newspaper. Nataliya Chervyakova’s claims relate to an article that accused local officials of failing to re-calculate citizens’ payments for heating in 2009 – in defiance of a government order. Chervyakova says that she was summoned to the office of Mayor Sergey Subbotin a few days before the article was due to be published on April 6, and told not to publish the story. When she refused to pull the piece , Subbotin allegedly threatened both her and her family.

Russia: plans to launch state-controlled search engine

30 Mar 10 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized

PBK Daily reports that the government is planning to launch a “national search engine” which would aim at satisfying “state-orientated” needs such as “facilitating access to safe information” and “filtering websites which feature banned content”. It has been suggested that the move may be designed to topple the growing power of Google in Russia. Although Google controls only 22% of the market, its share has been growing rapidly against its nearest competitor, Yadex. Yadex is increasingly coming under government control. Russian authorities have recently stepped-up efforts to tighten their control of internet use. From 1 Aoril,  anyone who registers a .ru domain will need to provide legal proof of their identity.