The Great Russian Firewall

Тут случайно нашел статью в Moscow Times, где упоминают и меня, точнее судьбу моего блога

Even the most cold-hearted realists would agree that the failure of communist censorship played a role in the collapse of the Iron Curtain: Voice of America, the fax machine, rock 'n' roll and the lure of Western capitalism helped to win over the people of the Soviet bloc.

Today, similar hopes are often vested in the Internet, with high expectations that the wealth of online information might trigger the same kind of censorship failure that we saw in Eastern Europe in contemporary authoritarian states -- and with the same results.

Such expectations are not entirely unfounded, because most Internet censorship systems are not perfect. But, while anybody with a little know-how can figure out how to circumvent, say, the "Great Firewall of China," Internet filtering is only one layer of Chinese Internet censorship. It is also supplemented by an increasingly sophisticated system of manipulation and spin. Now, a new crackdown against "vulgar" Internet content is being used to clean up politically sensitive writings.

Indeed, the Chinese Internet is evolving and adapting in ways that shore up the regime's legitimacy. Hundreds of thousands of people are employed as freelance web commentators, working to spin discussions in chat rooms and on blogs in a more patriotic, pro-government direction. Nationalistic young people, proud of China's newfound global economic and political power, gladly volunteer their time to show off their patriotism on the Internet.

Meanwhile, China is looking to Russia, which may have invented an entirely new model of controlling the Internet without recourse to censorship. Having established full control of traditional media, the Kremlin is now moving full-speed into the virtual world. The authorities' strategy is not new: establish tight control over the leading publishing platforms and fill them with propaganda and spin to shape online public opinion.

The fate of LiveJournal -- the most influential blogging platform in the country, often used to express dissent and protest against the government -- is one unfortunate example. In less than three years, this popular online resource has been transformed from a respectable U.S. startup to a shady Moscow-based enterprise, co-owned by the Kremlin's favorite oligarchs.
Судьба Живого журнала - самой влиятельной блог-платформы в этой стране, что часто используются, чтобы выразить несогласие и протест против власти - это один негативный примером. За менее чем три года, этот популярный интернет ресурс был преобразован из респектабельного бизнеса США в предприятие, которое совместно принадлежит Кремлю и любимым олигархам.

Government propaganda abounds, too, generated by new media operators like Konstantin Rykov, a 29-year-old State Duma deputy and the founder of New Media Stars, the Kremlin's favorite Internet firm.

Whenever manipulation efforts fail, cyber-attacks offer yet another powerful tool to crack down on dissent without triggering public accusations of formal censorship. This is what happened to a Georgian -- known by the screen name "cyxymu" -- who used his blog on LiveJournal to criticize how both governments handled last summer's war. A series of cyber-attacks followed and was so devastating that the entire service crashed, forcing LiveJournal administrators to delete his account temporarily.
В тех случаях, когда манипуляции усилия терпят неудачу, кибер-атаки предлагают еще один мощный инструмент по борьбе с инакомыслием, и не вызывает общественного обвинения в официальной цензуре. Это то, что произошло с грузинским блоггером - известным под псевдоним "cyxymu" - который использовал свой блог в Живом журнале критиковать правительства (России), прошлым летом во время войны. Ряд кибер-атак, столь разрушительных, что вся служба ЖЖ разбилась, заставляя администратора Живого журнала удалить свою учетную запись временно.


As contemporary authoritarian regimes learn how to manage and engineer information flows, we must understand that promoting and protecting free speech in places like China and Russia is not a simple matter of "tearing down the wall."

Given these governments' complex strategies for regulating what their citizens do online -- ranging from establishing effective control of private media and telecoms businesses to allowing people to blow off steam without going too far -- we should be more realistic about the true extent of the Internet's transformational potential. Rebecca MacKinnon and Evgeny Morozov are fellows at the Open Society Institute. © Project Syndicate

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/1016/42/374823.htm