[sireat]

Anecdotally, my inlaws who are NOT Russian also hold pro-Putin and pro-Lukashenko views. I avoid politics with them.

Why? Because they mostly watch Russian TV (those Russian WW2 serials are addicting). The propaganda in the Russian TV talk shows and news is very well done.

It is just like any other echo chamber. Just like watching Fox News,listening to Limbaugh in US, etc.

There are echo chambers for all political spectrums and all countries.

[Const-me]

It's OK to disagree with other people. It's OK to have civilized discussions about these topic, despite the disagreement.

Avoiding some topics in fear of insulting/upsetting other party, or in context of social media in fear of downvotes/flags, is the main cause of these modern echo-chambers.

[notahacker]

Yep. There have always been echo chambers where hostile international relations, repressing rival political movements and even open corruption are seen as good things by millions of people in established liberal democracies.

Why would it be surprising this might also be the case for many Russians, with an existing tradition of hostile international relations with the West, and more repressive and corrupt governments, especially when many Russians also felt a lot poorer before Putin arrived?

[lazyjones]

> There are echo chambers for all political spectrums and all countries.

And your conclusion is to avoid politics with your in-laws, so you can stay in your own echo chamber. Well done...