Digital content & Related technologies

East-West Digital News suspends Russian tech news coverage

September 11, 2023

East-West Digital News was founded back in 2011 to provide international audiences with quality information about Russia’s emerging tech industries — from startup and venture developments, to e-commerce, to mobile, to software development and much more.    Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and the West responded with unprecedented sanctions, this mission has become more …

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YouTube used increasingly in Russia mainly for entertainment purposes

September 20, 2022

According to Mediascope data (cited by Kommersant), Russians spent more time on YouTube in the first six months of 2022 than previously. They spent on average about 84 minutes per day on the site in this period, then 87 minutes in July and 88 minutes in August. Among the reasons for this trend could be news fatigue and a desire for …

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From Yandex to RT: Russia expands presence in Serbia amid Ukraine war

September 13, 2022

The lavishly decorated main entrance of Serbia’s baroque-style parliament building was barely visible behind a sea of protest tents and a makeshift stage adorned with billboards. One of them featured the face of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov alongside the caption “the world’s greatest diplomat.” “We are the same people,” one of the protesters, a smiling …

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Yandex reaches “binding” deal to divest news service, homepage to VK

September 8, 2022

Russian tech giant Yandex said Tuesday it has reached a “binding” deal to sell its news platform and homepage to rival VK as war-related sanctions fuel uncertainty over the Russian tech industry’s future. VK said it exited its joint venture with top lender Sberbank to pave the way for the deal with Yandex, once considered the jewel …

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Russia fines Apple for violating personal data law, Google for failing to remove “fake news”

August 4, 2022

On Monday Russia fined Google 21.1 billion rubles (some $263 million at the pre-war exchange rate, $360 million at the current rate) for repeatedly failing to remove prohibited content on its YouTube video platform. Censorship on the Russian Internet has been on the rise over the past few years, reaching totalitarian heights since the beginning …

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Pro-Russian authority in Kherson cuts access to Instagram and YouTube

July 7, 2022

The authority installed by occupying Russian troops in Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson announced on Wednesday that access to Instagram and YouTube is now blocked locally. Officials acknowledge, however, that the American social networks are still available through VPNs. Occupying forces in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions disabled mobile Internet service by Ukrainian telecoms back in late …

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Russian writer and neural network team up to compose 24 short stories

June 3, 2022

Russian writer and artist Pavel Pepperstein and generative neural network ruGPT-3 have co-authored a story book called Trying to Wake Up. The book has just been published in Moscow by independent publisher Individuum. Trying to Wake Up is touted as “the world’s first collection of short stories resulting from the collaboration of a writer and a neural …

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Targeted by western sanctions, Sber has to part with key digital assets

May 20, 2022

Just weeks after Yandex sold its news aggregation and online entertainment services, another key player of Russia’s online ecosystem, Sber, has deprived itself from important digital assets.  A company called Novye Vozmozhnosti (New Possibilities) is the new owner of the music service SberZvuk (previously Zvooq.ru, acquired by Sber in Aprill 2021); the video streaming service Okko (aquired …

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Cheap access to top international video platforms available on Russian darknet

April 29, 2022

Ads to access Spotify Premium, Netflix Premium, Pornhub and VPN services are flourishing in Russia — be it on the darkness or on legitimate classifieds platforms such as Avito.  Russian business daily Kommersant found no fewer than 60 ads to access Spotify, most often offering offer to join a foreign family account.  Meanwhile, 57 Spotify account …

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Yandex sells news aggregation service to VK amid censorship law and media crackdown

April 29, 2022

Yandex, the Russian digital giant, announced today “an agreement in principle” to sell its news aggregation service and infotainment platform ‘Zen’ to VK Company. The terms of the considered transaction are not disclosed.  “While the parties have come to an agreement in principle on a transaction, they are continuing to discuss certain technical details, which will be announced …

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Will Yandex sell its news and infotainment services?

April 20, 2022

In mid-March Yandex, the Russian online search giant — also running a variety of other digital services — announced it intended to sell its news aggregation service and infotainment platform ‘Zen.’ The move was possibly linked to the government’s crackdown on free expression. Amid the war on Ukraine, a new law had banned what the authorities consider to be “false” …

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