Writing for Yezhednevny Zhurnal, columnist Marianna Tishchenko discusses the various forms of pressure that the Russian authorities have used to stifle free speech on blogs and journals on the Russian Internet.

Russia: Freedom of Speech Online in 2010
By Marianna Tishchenko
February 10, 2011
Yezhednevny Zhurnal

With the Internet rising in influence as the single most important source of information (40% of Russian citizens use the Runet), the issue of online freedom of expression has become significantly more relevant. This year, the Internet became a platform for political and social mobilization in Russia. However, judging by the reaction of the Russian authorities, who strive to suppress activities in cyberspace, the government does not see online activism in a particularly positive light.

At the same time as ordinary Russians (who are, by the way, the most active users of social websites in the world) have begun to rely more ...

In a continuation from his last article, Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov argues that many of the country’s prominent public figures who purport to be part of the liberal intelligentsia have more in common with the ruling regime than they’d like to admit.

A Niche of Comfort
Putin’s system painstakingly mimics political liberalism
By Garry Kasparov
February 4, 2011
Kasparov.ru

The more obvious the aggressive essence of Putin’s regime becomes, the more that parallels with Rasputin’s influence over the imperial court, which conclusively discredited the tsarist regime and made support for the monarchy impossible for the cognizant part of Russian society, come to mind. This is what I wrote about in my previous article. However, today, as opposed to events from a hundred years ago, there’s a clear answer to the question of what more needs to be done to the regime so that people who are used ...