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by saiya-jin 1573 days ago
I don't think you understand Russian mentality. They largely gave up on democracy, freedom and lawful state long time ago. Those that really objected and were smart enough mostly went away and don't look back, since you can't fight that and survive, only join them or live in bitter poverty.

There are things that might work - big celebrities like top hockey players and other sportsmen could stand up and criticize Putin directly, not just issue some blank statements of wanting peace and not even mentioning what they actually mean by that (Ovechkin is a prime example).

Microsoft could ban any access to license servers, updates, office stuff etc (that might be a massive hit, I recall some UK submarines was running completely on Windows XP few years, I am sure half the state would stop working immediately).

Apple and Google could block any access to their stores, updates, apps etc... Ideally with some message explaining why, shown to every user. But that's a bold move, I don't think they have balls for that yet. Things will get much worse in Ukraine at this rate though, so this may change.

1 comments

Yes, nation-wide block of YouTube could work

Right now the only change is that google disabled YouTube ads for russian users. Which would make me more eager to sit home and numb my mind with videos

Blocking Youtube is an awful idea. It is one of the sources where Russians can get information not from propaganda. If you block Youtube, they will have to turn to government-controlled sites like Vk or RuTube.
I believe Russian authorities have blocked Facebook, Twitter, Youtube
Only Facebook and Twitter for now.