Controlling the uncontrollable: the strategy of the Russian authorities in the Internet
Keywords:
Internet, political control, information security, public information policy, social networksAbstract
The paper is devoted to the Russian practices of the Internet governance in the context of the state adaptation to the “digitalization” of mass social communications. The research results demonstrate that the period of the free Internet development is coming to the end in Russia. The state considers it as a threat to its own security and tends to control it. The system of the Internet governance is based on five elements: analysis of information threats, management of public information agenda on the web, tightening of legal responsibility for the dissemination of information in cyberspace, and nationalization of the main Internet infrastructure and personal data of the users. The author states that the state policy will affect the social functions of the Internet. Its role as a space for free information exchange, expression of opinions, and political self-organization and mobilization will be reduced, and the state influence on the society will be growing. However, according to the author, the authorities are not technically able to control the entire Russian cyberspace and therefore will likely move towards the creation of the Internet “for themselves”. DOI: 10.17072/2218-1067-2017-3-41-56References
«Бордюжа сравнил интернет с оружием, имея в виду беспорядки в Москве и Минске» // Интерфакс. 21.12.2010. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/1085142 [Bordyuzha compared the Internet with a weapon, meaning riots in Moscow and Minsk // Interfax. 21.12.2010. Available at: http://www.interfax.by/news/belarus/1085142].
«Где живут тролли? И кто их кормит?» // Новая газета. 2013. 7 сент. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/59889.html; «Я хочу закрыть эту фабрику лжи» // Новая газета. 2015. 1 июня. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/68627.html; «Главпаутина» // Новая газета. 2016. 17 авг. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/society/74216.html [«Where trolls live. And who feeds them» // Novaya Gazeta. 07.09.2013. Available at: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/59889.html; «I want to close this factory of lies» // Novaya Gazeta. 01.06.2015. Available at: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/society/74216.html; «Headweb» // Novaya Gazeta. 17.08.2016. Available at: http://www.novayagazeta.ru/society/74216.html].
«Доктрина информационной безопасности Российской Федерации». [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.scrf.gov.ru/documents/6/5.html [Information Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation. Available at: http://www.scrf.gov.ru/documents/6/5.html].
«Звездные войны» «Шалтая-Болтая» // Gazeta.ru. 2015. 7 апр. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2015/04/15_a_6640401.shtml [«Star wars» of «Humpty Dumpty» // Gazeta.ru. 07.04.2015. Available at: https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2015/04/15_a_6640401.shtml].
«И. Щёголев: «Учения подтвердили недостаточную устойчивость Рунета при недружественных «целенаправленных действиях» // Экспертный центр электронного государства (сайт). 17.10.2014. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://d-russia.ru/ucheniya-podtverdili-nedostatochnuyuustojchivost-runeta-pri-nedruzhestvennyx-celenapravlennyx-dejstviyax.html [I. Shchegolev: «The training showed insufficient stability of the Runet in case of unfriendly «focused actions» // Expert e-government center (website). 17.10.2014. Available at: http://d-russia.ru/ucheniya-podtverdilinedostatochnuyu-ustojchivost-runeta-pri-nedruzhestvennyx-celenapravlennyxdejstviyax.html].
Интернет и идеологические движения в России / сост. Г. НикипорецТакигава, Э. Паин. М., 2016. С. 442–443. [The Internet and the ideological movements in Russia. Comp. by G. Nikiporets-Takigawa, E. Pain. Moscow, 2016. P. 442−443].
«Как власти читают ваши блоги» // Forbes. 16.08.2012. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.forbes.ru/sobytiya/vlast/92590-kak-vlasti-chitayutvashi-blogi-rassledovanie-forbes [«How the authorities read your blogs»// Forbes. 16.05.2012. Available at: http://www.forbes.ru/sobytiya/vlast/92590- kak-vlasti-chitayut-vashi-blogi-rassledovanie-forbes].
Колесников А.В. Красная кнопка интернета // Индекс Безопасности, №4 (115), 2015 г. С. 40. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.pircenter.org/media/content/files/13/14513433110.pdf [Kolesnikov A.V. Red button of the Internet // Security Index. No. 4 (115), 2015, P. 40. Available at:: http://www.pircenter.org/media/content/files/13/14513433110.pdf].
«Мир вашему домену. Координационный центр .RU/.РФ готовят к национализации» // КоммерсантЪ. 17.08.2016. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3066171 [«Peace to your domain». The .RU/.RF Coordination Center is being prepared for nationalization // Kommersant. 17.08.2016. Available at: http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3066171].
Морозов Е. М. Интернет как иллюзия. Обратная сторона сети. М., 2014. [Morozov E.M. The Internet as an illusion. The reverse side of the network. Moscow, 2014].
«Путин подписал закон, приравнивающий новостные агрегаторы к СМИ» // ТАСС. 2016. 23 июня. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://tass.ru/ekonomika/3395954 [«Putin signed the law equating news aggregators with the mass media» // TASS. 23.06.2016. Available at: http://tass.ru/ekonomika/3395954].
«Путин считает важным размещать в РФ серверы крупных национальных интернет-ресурсов» //ТАСС. 2014. 24 апр. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://tass.ru/politika/1144396 [«Putin considers it important to deploy servers of large national Internet resources in Russia» // TASS. 04.24.2014. Available at: http://tass.ru/politika/1144396].
«Рейтинг блогов.» [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://branalytics.ru/mediatrends/blog/ [The rating of blogs. Available at: https://branalytics.ru/mediatrends/blog/].
«Советник президента Клименко предложил ограничить в России Интернет» // Интерфакс. 2017. 26 янв. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.interfax.ru/russia/547163 [«Presidential Adviser Klimenko suggested limiting the Internet in Russia» // Interfax. 26.01.2017. Available at: http://www.interfax.ru/russia/547163].
Солдатов А., Бороган И. Битва за Рунет: Как власть манипулирует информацией и следит за каждым из нас. М., 2017. [Soldatov А., Borogan I. Battle for Runet: How the authority manipulates information and spies on everyone of us. Moscow, 2017].
Этлинг Б. , Алексанян К., Келли Д., Фарис Р., Палфри Д. и Гассер У. Публичный дискурс в российской блогосфере: анализ политики и мобилизации в Рунете // Исследования Центра Беркмана № 2010−11. 2010. 19 окт. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/Public_Discourse _in_the_Russian_Blogosphere-RUSSIAN.pdf [Etling B., Alexanyan K., Kelly J., Faris R., Palfrey J. and Gasser U. Public Discourse in the Russian Blogosphere: Mapping RuNet Politics and Mobilization // Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2010-11. 19.10.2010. Available at:: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/Public_Discourse _in_the_Russian_Blogosphere-RUSSIAN.pdf].
Юдина Н. Антиэкстремизм в виртуальной России в 2014–2015 гг. Доклад информационно-аналитического центра «Сова». 28.06.2016. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.sova-center.ru/racismxenophobia/publications/2016/06/d34913/#_ftn1 [Yudina N. Anti-extremism in virtual Russia in 2014−2015. Report of the information-analytical center «Sova». 28.06.2016. Available at: http://www.sova-center.ru/racismxenophobia/publications/2016/06/d34913/#_ftn1].
Baum S., Mahizhnan A. E-Governance and Social Inclusion: Concepts and Cases. USA, 2014. 356 p.
Castells M. Networks of Outrage and Hope. Social movements in the Internet Age. Cambridge, 2015. P. 14–15.
Enikolopov R., Makarin А., Petrova М. Social Media and Protest Participation: Evidence from Russia. 07.04. 2016. Available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2696236.
Epstein R., Robertson R.E. The search engine manipulation effect (SEME) and its possible impact on the outcomes of elections // Proсeedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Published online 04.08.2015. Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/33/E4512.full.
Leading social networks worldwide as of April 2016, ranked by number of active users (in millions). Available at: http://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-bynumber-of-users/ (accessed 28.06.2016).
Morozov, E. The net delusion: The dark side of Internet freedom. New York, 2012. 432 p.; Yangyue Liu. Competitive Political Regime and Internet Control: Case Studies of Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2014. 220 p.
Number of social network users worldwide from 2010 to 2019 (in billions). Available at: http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwidesocial-network-users/.
Ognyanova K. Careful What You Say: Media Control in Putin’s Russia – Implications for Online Content // International Journal of E-Politics (IJEP) 1(2).2010. Available at: http://www.igi-global.com/article/careful-yousay/43597; Tselikov A. The Tightening Web of Russian Internet Regulation // The Berkman Center for Internet & Society Research Publication Series. Available at: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publications/2014/runet_regulation; Качкаева А. Фоссато Ф. Медиамашина зрелого авторитаризма: корпоративная консолидация и технологии политической мобилизации // Политическое развитие России. 2014−2016: Институты и практики авторитарной консолидации. М., 2016. С. 196-213 [Kachkaeva A. Fossato F. Mediamachine of the mature authoritarianism: corporate consolidation and technologies of political mobilization // Political development of Russia. 2014−2016: Institutions and practices of authoritarian consolidation. Moscow, 2016. P. 196−213.].
Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media // The Guardian. 17.03.2011. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-socialnetworks.
Rosenau J.N. The Study of Political Adaptation. L.; N.Y., 1981. 235 p.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The author grants the Publisher of the journal (Perm State University) the right to use their article in the journal, as well as to include the text of the abstract, the full text of the article and information about authors in the "Russian Science Citation Index" (RSCI).
The author agrees to the processing of personal data.
The right to use the journal as a whole belongs to the Publisher and acts indefinitely on the territory of the Russian Federation and beyond in accordance with cl. 1260 of the Russian Federation Civil Code.
There is no author's fee paid for providing the above rights by the author.
The author of the article included in the journal retains the exclusive right to it, regardless of the Publisher's right to use the journal as a whole:
a. The authors retain their copyrights to the article and transfer the right of the first publication along with the article to the journal, while also licensing it on the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to distribute this article with the obligatory indication of authorship of the article and reference to the original publication in this journal.
b. The authors retain the right to enter into separate, additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive dissemination of the version of the text published by this journal (for example, post it in a university archive or publish it in a book), with reference to the original publication in this journal.
c. d. Authors are allowed to post their text on the Internet (for example, in a university archive or on their personal website) before and during the review process by this journal, as this can lead to a fruitful discussion and to higher number of the references to this published work (Please refer to The Effect of Open Access).
Submission of an article by the author implies that they agree for it to be used by the Publisher on the above conditions and to be included in the RSCI system. It also implicates that the author is aware of the terms of its use. The information about the author sent to the Publisher, including by e-mail, is also considered as such consent.
The editorial board posts the full text of the article on the Perm State University site: http://www.psu.ru and in the OJS system at http://press.psu.ru
The publication fee is not collected and fees are not paid. The author's copy is sent to the author to the address provided by them.
