RuNet Echo

RuNet Echo is a project of Global Voices Online. Funded by the Open Society Institute, the project’s main purpose is to expand and deepen understanding of the Russian Internet (RuNet) and related online communities.

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Russia adds international messenger Threema to official registry with a view to control users’ communications

March 17, 2017

Last week Threema, which claims to be “the world’s favorite secure messenger,” became the first-ever foreign messaging app to be added to the official Russian “Registry of Information-Dissemination Organizers.” The news has been reported by Roskomsvoboda, a Russian NGO that aims to combat Internet censorship in Russia. Since 2014, the Russian authorities have managed a list of online services that “organize the dissemination of …

Russia adds international messenger Threema to official registry with a view to control users’ communications Read More

Russian entrepreneur aims to launch ‘Uber for funerals’

March 2, 2017

It has all the convenience and technical pizzazz of the transportation network Uber, but it helps you arrange funerals, not rides. A project manager working at the Russian Internet giant Yandex is designing an app called ‘Umer‘ (“Died” in Russian) — a service built to help people overcome the logistical difficulties of putting a loved one to rest. Umer …

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Political crowdfunding by individuals no longer allowed in Russia

January 27, 2017

On Monday, the online wallet service Yandex.Money announced that it would stop allowing online transfers of money to individuals for political purposes in order to comply with Russian election laws—a decision many see as aimed at undermining opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is using the service to crowdfund his 2018 presidential campaign. In a blog post published on Monday afternoon, …

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Spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry accuses Facebook of working with ISIS

December 22, 2016

Maria Zakharova, the colorful spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, accused Facebook administrators of working for the Islamic State, after the network temporarily unpublished one of her posts on Monday. Shortly after Moscow formally confirmed the death of Andrei Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Zakharova posted a photograph on Facebook, showing Karlov standing in front of …

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Russian students create programming language to help their ‘streetwise’ peers graduate

December 13, 2016

On December 5, a group of students at Saint Petersburg’s College of Information Technologies launched a parody programming language designed for “streetwise” computer science students struggling with traditional languages like JavaScript and C++. As reported by the news website TJournal, Semyon Gozman, Mikhail Belozerskiy, and Georgiy Mkhitaryan came up with“YoptaScript,” which appropriates Russian slang to make it easier for street-educated students to understand, …

Russian students create programming language to help their ‘streetwise’ peers graduate Read More

Be ready to scream on Facebook, before signing up for Moscow’s car-sharing services

March 2, 2017

Like cities throughout the West with Zipcar service, Moscow is a city with great potential for the car-sharing business: its traffic is some of the worst in the world, and parking in the city’s center — within the “Garden Ring” — is prohibitively expensive. Under these circumstances, many people did not think much before signing contracts with Moscow’s major …

Be ready to scream on Facebook, before signing up for Moscow’s car-sharing services Read More

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