A joke on social media proposing that Czechs seize the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad has gone viral, sparking mirth as well as anger from those taking it as real. “Time to split Kaliningrad so that our Czech brothers have access to the sea,” a Pole identifying himself as “Papiez internetu” (pope of the internet) tweeted …
Social media joke about annexing Kaliningrad goes viral Read More
Russia fined U.S. streaming platform Twitch on Tuesday for the second time this month over its refusal to remove an interview with an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, state media reported. A Moscow court said Twitch should pay 3 million rubles ($49,500) for the video with Oleksyi Arestovich, according to the TASS news agency. The …
Russia fines Twitch over Ukraine presidential adviser video Read More
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 …
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 …
Pro-Russian authority in Kherson cuts access to Instagram and YouTube Read More
TikTok issued an update Tuesday on its efforts to stem the flow of misinformation about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the company doesn’t appear to be effectively implementing its existing policies around the war. The social network cut off new content originating in Russia in early March in response to a harsh new law in the country criminalizing “fake …
Russian state media is still posting to TikTok a month after the app blocked new content Read More
As waves of wartime sanctions by foreign governments and private companies hit Russia, the country’s creator economy is in flux. The state ban on both Instagram and Facebook, Google’s ban on most YouTube monetization in the country, and restrictions on the ability of Russian users to upload videos to TikTok have instigated a mass platform …
Russian influencers desperately scramble to maintain their followers — and livelihoods Read More
After Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were banned, TikTok is the only remaining global social media platform still available in Russia. According to Datareportal, it attracted nearly 55 million users in Russia in February 2022; and its audience is likely to grow even more, should it avoid being banned too. What can Russians users see on …
Report: How the war in Ukraine is affecting the content that TikTok users see in Russia Read More
It’s been two days since Roskomnadzor blocked Instagram in Russia. The agency, which is in charge of telecommunications control and censorship, believes that the social network is filled with “calls to commit violent actions against Russian citizens and military personnel.” Russia’s Attorney General has called for Meta, Instagram’s parent company, to be blacklisted as an “extremist organization.” …
Today the Russian authorities blocked access to Instagram in the country after they accused its parent company Meta of allowing hate speech against Russians, including the military, on its platforms. Instagram now appears on a list of “restricted” online resources published by the authorities. Earlier this month Roskomnadzor, the Internet and telecom regulator, already blocked access to …
Instagram blocked in Russia, hitting crowds of individual entrepreneurs Read More
Meta’s properties — including Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp — are likely to cease their activities completely in Russia as the US social media company is now facing a criminal investigation over calls for violence targeting the Russian invaders of Ukraine. “A criminal case has been initiated (…) in connection with illegal calls for murder and …
On Friday last week, Russia slapped tech giants Google and Meta with penalties totaling over $125 million for repeated failure to remove banned content, the media reported. A Moscow magistrate’s court fined Google 7.2 billion rubles (around $98 million at the current exchange rate) under a legal clause that allows courts to impose between 5% and …
Russia imposes record fines to Google, Meta for failing to remove banned content Read More
Russia’s Gazprom is gaining control of VK Company, the LSE-listed Russian Internet major (previously known as Mail.ru Group), as a result of a string of deals to buy out Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov from the company. These transactions will increase state control over the group, which owns in particular the country’s leading social networks Vkontakte …
Russian state strengthens control over leading Internet group VK Read More
