Yandex’s news service almost blind to mass anti-corruption protests

On Sunday, as Russia was witnessing mass anti-corruption protests, Yandex’s local news feed for Moscow prominently featured trivialities such as weather reports and promotions for the city’s “Spring Festival.” On the national level, protests were overshadowed by news like Russia’s reaction to Kiev banning its Eurovision contestant, reports The Moscow Times.

It’s no secret that the Russian authorities are able to manipulate Yandex’s news feed, without resorting to outright censorship. The mayor’s office of Moscow, for example, is known to have registered dozens of obscure, almost identical, media outlets — all to bombard Yandex with small stories about city projects, just to keep the news (and the mayor’s agenda) trending on Yandex.Novosti.

In a press release this Monday, trying to clear its name, Yandex said it aggregates the news automatically, using algorithms, and the company vaguely accused the government of trying to manipulate its system.