Russia is heavily censoring its news reports.There was that famous incident a few days ago on Russian television when a worker in a news studio held up a sign behind the newscaster saying basically “don’t believe what this guy is saying…it’s all lies” .
Does the average citizen have any way to get real info?
I know that Putin has somehow blocked Facebook and Instagram.
But what about Google, and the rest of the internet?
Does the average citizen in Russia have access to the internet now? Can they read, say, the BBCnews Russian website?
I correspond weekly with freelance designers in Russia and they are as well informed about the situation in Ukraine as anybody on this board. Only the Russian version of the stereotypical American AOL user isn’t able to access enough Western news sites to get the big picture. The problem is that a lot of Russians are like Fox News viewers. They don’t want to hear news that conflicts with their national or political bias and even if the are exposed to it, they are inclined to disbelieve it.
I’m not sure about getting information related to the war, as Russia is spreading propaganda like COVID-19 right now, but for general, more “fun” things like YouTube, yes. I follow a few YouTubers who live in Russia & they still post regularly.
I think the answer is “it depends”. Older Russians who lived through the cold war in the USSR probably believe what they are told on Russian television. They have no reason not to. They likely only speak Russian, don’t own a computer or smartphone, and don’t have access to the Internet. To say they are basically brainwashed and only believe what they are told by the Kremlin is probably an understatement.
However, younger, wealthier, educated Russians who perhaps can speak another language and have an Internet connection have access to Western news agencies and can find out what’s going on, whether they choose to believe it or not is another story.
The strange thing to me is that there are Russians, old and young, who have relatives living in Ukraine that they speak to regularly and they still don’t believe what they are being told. If they don’t believe their own relatives I doubt they are going to believe what the foreign press tells them.
I’ve been watching a bunch of English-speaking Russian Youtuber videos doing walkarounds in supermarkets and malls seeing what stores have closed and how prices have been affected by sanctions over the past couple of days. They’re presumably effectively no longer monetized with Russia being cut off from the international banking system but they’re still making content. Some of them make note of the self-censorship they’re having to do out of fear that calling the events anything other than special military operations could get them fined and/or jailed.
As of a week ago I was chatting in game with one of the Russian gamers I know online, so at least one english speaking young 20s guy is able to get online.
[I was telling him that he and his unhappy friends should go out and revolt. He said that the police have guns. I told him to go watch Battleship Potemkin. Their supply of ammunition is limited and with 1000 people attacking a unit of 10 police once the police have run out of ammo you can turn them into long pork pate on the streets. I pointed out that that is how revolutions happen, some people end up shot but the authorities get stomped into mud.]
Well, you go watch Batlteship Potemkin … or any other successful populist revolt. When you have 1000 pissed off people with clubs, the 1000 rounds of ammo only goes so far. When the ammo is gone, it is down to clubs, rocks and bayonets. Some will be dead, some will be wounded, and the authorities will be dead. Google Attica Uprising if you have a strong stomach, my family knew the guard that survived with traumatic brain injuries - he was never the same.
Still, you suggesting to a real person that he and his friends really toss themselves into a real hail of bullets because some of them will survive to murder the cops is one of the most cold-blooded, fucked-up things that I’ve ever heard.
Well, how do you think rvolutions happen? Enough people have to WANT to make the change, and write a check with their body. My husband spent 20 years with his body as the bottom line in the military. He has already stated that if he were just out of enlistment at the age of 39 he would join the volunteer force and help free Ukraine. They simply don’t have use of a 60 year old guy who is currently involved in a job where he renovates Sikorsky helicopters - and some of the parts he has bee working upon are taken from helis that are in German service and will probably end up in Ukraine as soon as everybody finishes discussing things.
This thread is about the factual topic of how much access Russians have to the internet. Discussions about revolutions and what people should and shouldn’t do are off topic both for this thread and for FQ in general. Feel free to discuss those topics, just not here.