Any Russian users here - does the average person here not wonder why so many previously acceptable services are being blocked and/or silenced? Do they not wonder what it is that the authorities want to shield them from?
My take is that most people use VK instead of Facebook and Twitter isn't used much either. Sure, some people use it, but it's nowhere near the popularity of Telegram or Instagram.
Some friends, who lurk on Facebook more, do periodically share this or that post that seems to be bashing Russia, so no wonder they blocked Facebook. Same for Twitter. I think people might get more hurt by a ban of Instagram.
Another point is that people who care enough about free speech, democracy, etc. are more likely to be aware of and use VPN services, so they might still be able to access the content, but people who don't use VPN are unlikely to install it just to check some viral anti-regime post on Facebook, so maybe this is a move to prevent future growth of the audience reading news on Facebook.
Of course, take this all with a grain of salt, as I hardly use Facebook or Twitter, just Messenger sometimes. I'm mostly extrapolating from the usage by my friends and family.
Average russians don't use twitter or facebook, it's mostly the educated middle class.
Educated middle class people know what's going on, hate Putin and have been protesting it all since 2011, but there's only so much they can do against an armed police state that arrest kids and runs a torture convenor belt in prisons: https://www.the-sun.com/news/4045314/videos-putin-prisons-in...
Ah I see now, thanks. Went through my history and realised that in a thread talking about EU RT being shut down, this[1] thread was linked which I thought was about RT but I see now that it isn't.
Looks like RT is/was very government-backed and spreading a ton of misinformation - so I can understand why people would want to shut it down (for spreading verifiably incorrect information), but on the other hand can also see why it's not a good look :/
The difference is that you can still see first hand reports from individuals in Russia. But all media in the state has to repeat what government says or be banned like Echo of Moscow. Since this morning individuals will be jailed too, but I doubt it would be impossible to find someone defying this new law.
It usually always possible to see the negative aspects of the other side. After all, that's what your side wants you to see.
But it's hard to see the negative aspects of your side.
For instance, did you know that the Ukrainians essentially executed an Israeli civilian at a checkpoint because they though he was Chechen? Our media pick and choose what they report and how they report it.
Thank you for saying this. I really can't stand the "west good, everyone else bad" arrogance I see here sometimes. Western rulers lie to their people too!
As an exercise, search for "the ghost of kyiv" and then try to imagine what the headlines would look like if it were a actually a fake russian story about a russian pilot instead of a ukrainian one.
So far, this just looks like another recession for regular Russians, and not as bad as 1998-99 [1]. At least as far as "their money" goes. Losing access to western goods, services and travel may be the more noticiable factor, at least for some people.
Are polls trustworthy either way at this point? People are getting jailed for showing up to protest at all. Answering ‘No’ or abstaining from participation just seems like you’re signing yourself up for a trip to the gulag.
They're probably pretty accurate, yes. Not that I agree with any of it; but Putin has a ton of "justifications" for what's happening in Ukraine right now. The main one being that the US & West are threatening Russia's entire existence via NATO expansion.
If most of the media around you is state-sanctioned and pro-Putin, it's super easy to go along with Putin's justifications.
No, isn't exact comparison but it is the same vein. RT.com headlines have actually been relatively straight forward statement of fact with out charged language. I suspect many at the channel are against the war.
They also present full or longer clips of Russian official, instead of (possibly misleading) sound bites.
One doesn't have to agree with a viewpoint to find value in knowing what the other side thinks, instead of being told what they think.
FOX News and MSNBC are a form of propaganda as well.
>> they tell mostly truth, but 5-10% of it of propaganda
> If your bar for “not propaganda” is 95% truthful, what news site is left that passes that test?
You misunderstand the test. A better way to state it would be: "they tell mostly truth, but 5-10% is deliberate, institutionally-sanctioned lies."
A lot of people can't seem to tell the difference between false statements and lies, and conflate the concepts all the time. Add hindsight into the mix, and it gets even worse.
Some friends, who lurk on Facebook more, do periodically share this or that post that seems to be bashing Russia, so no wonder they blocked Facebook. Same for Twitter. I think people might get more hurt by a ban of Instagram.
Another point is that people who care enough about free speech, democracy, etc. are more likely to be aware of and use VPN services, so they might still be able to access the content, but people who don't use VPN are unlikely to install it just to check some viral anti-regime post on Facebook, so maybe this is a move to prevent future growth of the audience reading news on Facebook.
Of course, take this all with a grain of salt, as I hardly use Facebook or Twitter, just Messenger sometimes. I'm mostly extrapolating from the usage by my friends and family.