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Ukraine war: Russians kept in the dark by internet search
BBC Monitoring ^ | 11/11/22 | By Adam Robinson, Olga Robinson & Kayleen Devlin

Posted on 11/13/2022 11:22:40 AM PST by Eleutheria5

In many places, searching the web is a gateway to a wider world of information, but in Russia, it is part of a system that helps trap people in an alternative reality.

Shortly after 20 people were killed in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk in June, Lev Gershenzon - a former manager at Russian tech company Yandex - typed the city's name into its search engine to find out more.

The results he got back shocked him.

"The sources that ranked at the top of the page were strange and obscure," he told the BBC. "There was one blog by an unknown author claiming that the information about casualties was fake."

The Kremlin keeps a tight grip on the country's media, especially TV, which glorifies Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a mission of liberation and dismisses reports of atrocities as fake.

The internet in Russia was for a long time the main space for alternative sources of information, but after starting the war in February the Kremlin launched a crackdown on independent online media.

Digital rights watchdog Roskomsvoboda estimates that - in the first six months of the conflict - nearly 7,000 websites were blocked in Russia, including those of major independent media and human rights groups.

Our experiment BBC Monitoring wanted to find out what people in Russia see when they search the web now.

.....

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: censorship; information; monopoly; propaganda; russia; russiansuicide; ukraine; vladtheimploder
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Sounds awful familiar. Can you say "Gaslighting," class?
1 posted on 11/13/2022 11:22:40 AM PST by Eleutheria5
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To: Eleutheria5

The world was a better place without the internet.


2 posted on 11/13/2022 11:34:56 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: Eleutheria5

God, that must be awful to not be able to trust their internet search results not to conform to the government line. We are so lucky we have Google and YouTube carefully ensuring we only hear the truth. /s


3 posted on 11/13/2022 11:40:00 AM PST by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: Eleutheria5
"The sources that ranked at the top of the page were strange and obscure," he told the BBC. "There was one blog by an unknown author claiming that the information about casualties was fake."
And if one googles such things as HOMOSEXUALITY and the BIBLE on Google and the like, then top searches (at least) are mostly those denying its condemnation.

Yandex is not much better.

And ignore this.

4 posted on 11/13/2022 11:41:48 AM PST by daniel1212 (Turn to the Lord Jesus as a damned+destitute sinner, trust Him who saves, be baptized + follow Him!)
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To: BenLurkin

Why? Because it was easier for totalitarian governments to control the flow of information?


5 posted on 11/13/2022 11:43:29 AM PST by Salohcin
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To: Salohcin

If you think the internet makes it harder to control the flow of information, you are greatly mistaken.


6 posted on 11/13/2022 11:53:48 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: Eleutheria5

Like when I do COVID-19 vaccine dangers searches on ALL major browsers in the US. All I find are pro-vaccine sites by the 1000s talking about how safe and effective they are…


7 posted on 11/13/2022 12:00:56 PM PST by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)
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To: Eleutheria5
This from the British, who along with the rest of the West, censor out the Russian POV on YouTube and social media?
8 posted on 11/13/2022 12:09:57 PM PST by Kazan
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To: Eleutheria5

Google does this here to control the narrative and bury dissent


9 posted on 11/13/2022 12:32:23 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion (Fraud vitiates everything. )
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To: Kazan

But that’s alright. It gets plenty of exposure on Free Republic.


10 posted on 11/13/2022 12:54:59 PM PST by Eleutheria5 (Free country? Good morning, Rip. )
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To: Kazan

People like yourself who endlessly trumpet the official Russian point of view are being censored? How’s that since here you are?


11 posted on 11/13/2022 1:37:05 PM PST by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
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To: MeganC

“People like yourself who endlessly trumpet the official Russian point of view are being censored? How’s that since here you are?”

Hey Captain Obvious, FR is not censoring us for having an opposing non-pro-Ukrainian viewpoint.

But be assured, if you clowns were in charge and running things in FR, we would have already been censored long ago. :duh:


12 posted on 11/13/2022 2:42:37 PM PST by cranked
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To: cranked; Kazan

Then you’re not being censored so don’t claim victimhood when no one bothers to oppress you.


13 posted on 11/13/2022 3:08:29 PM PST by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
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To: MeganC

No one is claiming victimhood here but you.

Again, be assured, Drama Queen, if you clowns were in charge and running things in FR, we would have already been censored long ago. :duh:


14 posted on 11/13/2022 3:11:04 PM PST by cranked
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To: MeganC
No, I am presenting AN OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE WAR, one from Western analyst like Alex Christoforou, Alexander Mercouris, Gonzalo Lira, Larry Johnson, The New Atlas and Moon of Alabama. None of these sources are Russian

You, on the other hand, are spewing the Biden regime's propaganda here. It's a lie like everything else the comes out of this regime.

You are absolutely numbskull not to see that war in Ukraine, as Biden advisor Brian Deese openly said, is about defending the "liberal world order". The "liberal world order" is comprised of our political elite (including the Bidens and Clintons) and rich, globalists like George Soros and the creeps in the WEF.

And, if you think I'm back off one inch, think again. You neocons make me ill.

15 posted on 11/13/2022 3:21:46 PM PST by Kazan
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To: cranked

You contradict yourself in your same post. You say I claim victimhood and then accuse me of hypothetically victimizing you.


16 posted on 11/13/2022 3:32:17 PM PST by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
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To: Kazan

I don’t expect you to back off. Just saying your claims of censorship ring hollow.

But feel free to write more posts about how you’re so oppressed.

It makes you seem like a whiny snowflake and if that’s what you want then I will not object.


17 posted on 11/13/2022 3:35:34 PM PST by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
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To: BenLurkin

That statement is just plain wrong.


18 posted on 11/14/2022 8:06:42 AM PST by Callahan ( )
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To: Eleutheria5
My God, what kind of so called patriots are you not to trust the established media?


19 posted on 11/14/2022 10:33:06 AM PST by norsky ( <P><img src=" "width=400"></img> <P> <a href= > </a>)
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To: norsky

What kind of patriot of Russia? Not at all. Of America? It’s my duty to disbelieve them. Of Israel? Not going to break my teeth trying to understand newspaper Hebrew. Talmud, Bible, Chassidic tracts are my kind of Hebrew. All the politicians suck, some more than other.


20 posted on 11/14/2022 10:57:58 AM PST by Eleutheria5 (Free country? Good morning, Rip. )
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