Meduza

Meduza is an independent-minded online media that brings news and feature stories from hundreds of sources in Russia and across the former Soviet Union in both Russian and English languages. This publication has been designated a "foreign agent" by the Russian authorities under a controversial law.

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After buying fake vaccination certificates, half million Muscovites have their data for sale on Darknet

November 25, 2021

Darknet forums and Telegram channels have started selling databases containing the personal information of Russians who purchased fake COVID-19 vaccination certificates and forged PCR test results. Journalists at Kommersant spoke to one vendor who offered to sell them a database with 1,000 lines of information for $120. The file contained people’s passport numbers, insurance policy numbers, telephone …

After buying fake vaccination certificates, half million Muscovites have their data for sale on Darknet Read More

Russian-Ukrainian eSports team claims world title in Kiev

November 9, 2021

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the most popular multiplayer first-person shooter games around, and the unofficial CS:GO world title now belongs to Natus Vincere (NAVI), a team based in Kyiv (Kiev) comprising Russian and Ukrainian players. In the final game of the latest Major Championship tournament (held in Stockholm over the past two weeks),  …

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Facebook report: Russian groups spread disinformation about Western covid vaccines

August 12, 2021

In its July 2021 “Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior Report,” Facebook announced that it banned 63 Facebook accounts and 243 Instagram accounts for spreading disinformation about Western coronavirus vaccines. The flagged content included various memes about the supposed dangers of COVID-19 shots, especially AstraZeneca, and numerous comments posted elsewhere in English, Hindi, Spanish, and Portuguese. The disinformation …

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Russia blocks Navalny’s mirror site using Internet isolation tools – but not yet his ‘Smart Vote’ site

July 29, 2021

Russian authorities have blocked jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s mirror website using the tools that help telecom providers “isolate” Russia’s section of the internet, The Moscow Times reports, citing privacy NGO Roskomsvoboda. Navalny rolled out the website navalny.app after authorities blocked his main website navalny.com alongside nearly 50 sites linked to him Monday because of “banned extremist …

Russia blocks Navalny’s mirror site using Internet isolation tools – but not yet his ‘Smart Vote’ site Read More

Science, technology and information highlighted as battlefields in Russia’s new national security strategy

July 8, 2021

On July 3 president Vladimir Putin signed off on a new national security strategy for Russia. This latest version develops the notion that Russia is surrounded by enemies threatening the country’s security in a variety of ways — from military pressure, to the spread of extremist ideas, to the “Westernization of culture” and the imposition of foreign moral values.  In the spirit …

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Moscow court bans Telegram bot ‘Eye of God’ over privacy violations

July 2, 2021

At the request of Russia’s censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, Moscow’s Tagansky District Court has banned the Telegram bot “Eye of God” for alleged illegal activity that violates privacy rights. According to Roskomnadzor’s claim, the Telegram bot, which searches online databases for people’s personal information, violates privacy rights “by accessing an indefinite circle of persons’ personal data …

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How a Russian ‘marketing agency’ offered money to Western bloggers to spread fake news about the Pfizer vaccine

June 4, 2021

Last month, a handful of journalists and bloggers in France and Germany tweeted screenshots of emails from managers at some kind of marketing agency asking them to share information about higher mortality rates in patients immunized with Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine relative to other vaccines. As reporters learned that the agency is based in Moscow, French …

How a Russian ‘marketing agency’ offered money to Western bloggers to spread fake news about the Pfizer vaccine Read More

Russia considers mandating foreign IT companies to open local representative offices

September 17, 2021

A draft law has been submitted to the Russian State Duma that will oblige foreign IT companies to open full-fledged representative offices in Russia. Hosting providers, advertising systems operators, and “online information distributors” are concerned as well.  Should such a law be adopted, foreign companies with a daily traffic of 500,000 users from Russia or more will …

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Apple challenges $12 million fine in Russian court

May 11, 2021

Apple has filed a lawsuit against Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), challenging a $12 million fine. The Moscow Arbitration Court has accepted the claim and scheduled a preliminary hearing for June 21.  On April 27, the FAS fined Apple 906 million rubles (around $12 million) for abusing its dominant position in the apps market.  According to a previous …

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YouTube deletes hyperlinks to Navalny voting initiative

May 7, 2021

YouTube has started deleting hyperlinks to Alexey Navalny’s ‘SmartVote‘ project — a strategic voting initiative designed to identify candidates with the best statistical odds of defeating politicians from Russia’s ruling political party, United Russia.  On Thursday, the media outlet Sota Vision reported that YouTube removed its SmartVote hyperlink from a video streamed in August 2019 during opposition protests …

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From gene bombs to classroom curriculum: How Vladimir Putin became infatuated with genetics

April 16, 2021

Until recently, the Russian authorities showed little interest in genetics. The breakthrough came in 2019, when the government allocated 127 billion rubles (around $1.7 billion at the current exchange rate) to a special seven-year federal program. In fact, the Kremlin’s overall spending on projects involving genetics could actually reach 230 billion rubles ($3 billion) in …

From gene bombs to classroom curriculum: How Vladimir Putin became infatuated with genetics Read More

Russia plans to require foreign IT companies to open local offices and pay taxes

March 19, 2021

The Russian government plans to create a “digital residency” system for foreign IT companies. According to this initiative, Russia will adopt legislation by the end of 2021 that will oblige foreign companies with a client base of more than 100,000–500,000 Russian users to register legal entities in the country and pay taxes. Foreign nationals will …

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