[gerhardi]

Oh my god.. So you really think that a totalitarian control over what the country's population is allowed to view on the Internet is somehow a good thing and a way to stop brain drain? How come other countries manage to have their cultures flourish on the age of the Internet? I just can't see this kind of blocking bringing anything good for Russia..

[ISL]

There is a reasonable chance that the throwaway poster intended to be divisive, whether as a troll or something more intentional.

[hal9000xp]

The scary thing is that while living in Russia, I've encountered many people with similar views (face to face).

I know it's hard to believe for western people but there are lots of people in Russia who completely obsessed with ideas of "unique Russian identity", "God chosen nation", "Russian world", "saint Russia vs. soulless American imperialism" etc.

Putin understands feelings of this part of society and successfully exploits this in order to push his own agenda. For example:

http://time.com/75484/putin-the-internet-is-a-cia-project/

[toomuchtodo]

The solution, it would seem, is to help those who want to emigrate emigrate and let those who want to stay stay, and let the country slowly die on the vine.

[buzzert]

Have you seen the population graphs for Russia[0] vs the USA[1]? It seems like one of the only developed countries (besides Japan) with a decreasing population. Seems like that is happening already.

[0] https://www.google.com/search?q=population+of+russia

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=population+of+usa

[codedokode]

Doesn't Trump say the same things about USA? Also, I never heard about a "god chosen nation".

[varjag]

I encounter plenty such people among Russian migrants too. Really dig Putin and want Russia to be a GULag zoo for their former compatriots.

[sebleon]

I'm surprised more countries don't block Google and Facebook. These two sites are extremely powerful in their ability to shape public opinion, hard to imagine why so many governments are letting American corporations shape citizens' minds.