Spring 2011

Nyetizdat: How the Internet Is Building Civil Society in By Leon Aron

In the past decade, Russia has experienced explosive growth in the spread of the Internet and its applica- tions. As in other authoritarian regimes, where the national media are state controlled, censored, or self- censored, the Russian “net” has become “a shelter in the world of censorship.”1 In this “shelter” capacity, “Ru.net,” as it is known in Russia, is reminiscent of samizdat (literally, “self-publishing”), an under- ground network of banned fiction and nonfiction copied and clandestinely disseminated in the in the 1960s and 1970s. Samizdat was central to preserving at least a trickle of uncensored infor- mation during the bleakest years of the Brezhnev “stagnation,” and in doing so paved the way for pere- stroika and glasnost. In breaking outside the perimeter of officially sanctioned public debate, Ru.net harks back to its legendary predecessor. It thus may be named nyetizdat, since in Russian “no” and “net” have Russian Outlook Russian an identical spelling and sound.2 Growing daily in penetration and sophistication, nyetizdat is a major and evolving factor in Russian politics today and, even more so, tomorrow.

f course, just as today’s authoritarian Russia Ois not the totalitarian Soviet Union of the 1970s, so too does nyetizdat differ from samizdat, Key points in this Outlook: not only in its medium but also in the regime’s • Russia can be divided into two nations: the management of it. Unlike the producers and con- “television nation” and the “Internet nation.” sumers of nyetizdat, those caught publishing, dis- Although most Russians still get their daily seminating, and reading samizdat could be fired from their jobs and expelled from colleges; at news from television, the minority who rely worst they were sent to prisons and camps. Samiz- on the Internet are more politically engaged. dat counted tens of thousands of readers; nyetizdat, • The Internet is the backbone of civil soci- millions. Perhaps most importantly, unlike samiz- ety in Russia—giving people both a voice dat, the Russian Web is indispensible not just for the dissemination of information and uncensored and the tools to self-organize—and it is a national debate; with open democratic politics a growing force against authoritarianism. sham, the Internet has rapidly evolved into the • Russian authorities allow social and politi- main alternative public platform and the engine cal movements on the Internet that are of grassroots self-organization, at once a national not permitted in real life, perhaps to allow “town hall” and party headquarters, vital to the emergence and maintenance of thousands of people to “let off steam.” The Internet is social and political movements.3 already a major factor in Russian politics— and its influence is growing almost daily. Leon Aron ([email protected]) is a resident scholar and the director of Russian studies at AEI.

1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 202.862.5800 www.aei.org - 2 - Penetration and Dynamics instance, in 2010, 62 percent of eighteen- to twenty- four-year-olds were regular Web users16—or between 1.3 The Russian Communication and Press Ministry puts the and 1.6 times the national rate for all adults. Education number of regular Internet users in 2010 at 66 million, or is almost as good a predictor as age: among those with 46 percent of the population.4 According to far more higher education or unfinished higher education (that is, reliable public opinion surveys conducted in the winter mostly, those still in college), 55 percent used the Inter- and spring of 2011, among those eighteen years and older, net, compared with 17 percent among those with only a 38–43 percent (44–50 million people) use the Internet high school education.17 In large cities like and “regularly” (at least once a month),5 which translates St. Petersburg, the penetration rate is 65 percent.18 into an Internet penetration rate among the total popu- Of course, almost three times as many Russians (84 per- lation between 31 and 35 percent. (By comparison, cent) watch government-controlled television (which according to the United Nations International Telecom- filters and slants its content in support of the Kremlin munication Union, an agency for information and com- and bars key opposition leaders, journalists, and experts) munications technology issues, the penetration rate in as log on daily (31 percent).19 The gap is wider still the United States was 77 percent: 240 million regular when it comes to following the news: an estimated 94 per- users in a population of 311 million.)6 Within the same cent of the population turns to the television and only group of those eighteen years and older, 40 percent 9 percent to the Internet.20 Nyetizdat is somewhat more (46 million) use the Internet once a week, while 31 per- popular as a news source with those between ages twenty- cent (36 million) use it daily.7 five and thirty-nine (10 percent), Muscovites (12 per- Since the first survey of Internet usage in winter cent), those with higher education (13 percent), and the 2003–2004, the number of monthly users has increased “wealthier” (16 percent).21 more than fourfold.8 There are almost eight times more weekly users today than seven years ago, and the number Samizdat counted tens of thousands of people who log on daily has grown almost ten times.9 When the shares of Russia’s most popular website, the of readers; nyetizdat, millions. search engine Yandex.ru, went on sale for the first time on the Nasdaq stock exchange on May 24, 2011, their price increased 55 percent by the end of the day, raising Yet, although “only 20 percent” of Russians may get $1.3 billion for the company, which was started by a their daily news from the Internet (in perhaps the overly mathematician and a geophysicist in 1997.10 optimistic estimate of , the most popu- Social media are expanding rapidly as well. The lar Russian blogger and anticorruption crusader), these Facebook-like site V Kontakte (“in touch”) is fifth among 20 percent are the “politically active class,” the people Russia’s five hundred most popular sites, followed by who are “the drivers of political change.”22 There are YouTube (sixth) and Facebook (seventh).11 Twitter is two nations in Russia today, Dmitri Muratov, editor of number seventeen, and its growth has been “exponen- , Russia’s only national opposition news- tial.”12 Russian social media are among the fastest grow- paper, said to me in February in Moscow: the “television ing in the world,13 and Russian Internet users are said to nation” and the “Internet nation.”23 be among the most “engaged social networking audi- ences worldwide”—the percentage of those using Democratic Opposition and the “social” sites and the amount of time they spend on Opposition Media them are among the highest in the world.14 The “Internet nation” is an avid consumer of independ- A Tale of Two Nations ent and opposition news and commentary. Every major “unregistered” national opposition party or movement— As in most countries, the most frequent and fastest- Solidarity (), Strategy-31 (Strategiya-31), or the growing engagement with the Web has occurred in Party of People’s Freedom (Partiya narodnoy svobody)— demographic segments that tend to be politically active: has its own website, and its leaders blog regularly, as do younger, better educated, concentrated in the largest dozens of other prodemocracy intellectuals, essayists, and urban centers, and middle and upper-middle class.15 For journalists on independent or opposition sites.24 These - 3 - include Ej.ru (the site of Ezhednevnyi zhurnal, or Daily Virtually all the most popular bloggers (and, since Janu- Journal; ezh means “hedgehog” in Russian); Newtimes.ru ary 2009, Medvedev) post on LiveJournal, which Inter- (the New Times magazine), Grani.ru (“facets”), Gazeta.ru net expert and prominent opposition blogger Anton (“newspaper”), Kommersant.ru (the site of an independ- Nossik called “the only uncensored, uncontrolled, and ent newspaper of the same name), EkhoMoskvy.ru (“The unmoderated channel for discussion.”32 ,” the only national opposition radio channel), and, of course, NovayaGazeta.ru. Of these “I, like any person, can be frightened, sites, Ekho Moskvy is the most popular, with 3,485,948 visitors per month as of April (Russia’s sixteenth most bribed, removed, and so on, but this popular news and commentary site overall), followed by should not bring our activity to a halt.” Novaya gazeta (810,184 visitors, sixty-first overall), Grani.ru (758,256 visitors, sixty-seventh overall), and Ej.ru (272,912 visitors, 144th overall).25 In January Few, if any, topics are as prevalent in nyetizdat as gov- 2011, Novaya gazeta announced triumphantly that its ernment corruption. “For me, there are no opportunities site, which started daily updates in January, was visited to publish [in newspapers and magazines] materials about by the 40 millionth reader, while average weekly reader- corruption in, say, or Transneft,” Navalny said ship reached 420,000–450,000.26 in April. “Through LiveJournal, I can bring this informa- Of late, independent and opposition media have tion to a few million people, which is comparable to a branched into the social networking space. Novaya television audience.”33 Navalny’s most recent and widely gazeta, for instance, now has a Facebook page, which, as popular anticorruption project is RosPil—a pun on of this writing, was “liked” by 25,925 Facebook visitors.27 “Rossiya” (Russia) and “raspilivat” (slang for dividing When the Novaya gazeta site was attacked by hackers in stolen money among government officials). In a country April, the April 8 issue was posted on the paper’s Face- that “corruption is holding by the throat,” as Medvedev book page, from which devoted readers spread it among put it,34 Navalny’s blog crusade has inspired similar sites their “friends.”28 and platforms. One of them, called Roskomvzayatka.ru (or Russiabribe.ru), is devoted entirely to publicizing and The Town Hall investigating bribery. “If you gave a bribe or if you were extorted to give a bribe, inform us about it. We guaran- In addition to being the source of uncensored news and tee your anonymity,” reads the site’s homepage.35 “The opinion for the “Internet nation,” nyetizdat is also a sub- most important thing is to find a mechanism for coordi- stitute for an open public space where public opinion is nating the supporters,” Navalny told an interviewer shaped and through which policies occasionally could be recently. “Thousands of people ask me: ‘How can we influenced—a virtual town hall, where one’s voice can help you? How can we do what you are doing?’ . . . I see be heard and debated by fellow citizens. Since 2008, the my task as creating a system to which, first, everyone number of blogs on Ru.net has increased from 3.8 mil- could contribute and, second, which would be decentral- lion to 7.4 million. President Dmitri Medvedev started a ized enough not to depend on anyone in particular, video blog in October 2007. In a recent study of the including myself. Because I, like any person, can be Russian Internet, almost 12,000 (out of 17,000 “most frightened, bribed, removed, and so on, but this should widely cited”) bloggers were identified as the “structural not bring our activity to a halt.”36 and conversational core” of the Russian blogosphere.29 In March, Navalny pioneered a new Russian Internet The blogosphere is dominated by four sites—Live- format, when he debated Yaroslav Kuzminov, the rector Journal, LiveInternet, Ya.ru, and blog.mail.ru—that (president) of the Higher School of Economics (HSE), combine the features of traditional open blog platforms whom Navalny had accused of abetting corrupt practices (such as Blogger or Wordpress) with closed social network in the HSE’s contract work for the Ministry of Economic platforms (Facebook or MySpace), complete with “friends,” Development. The debate was livestreamed on the “communities,” “groups,” and file-sharing options.30 Of HSE’s site37 and viewed by “tens of thousands of online these, the Russian-language segment of LiveJournal viewers.”38 A few weeks later, following a radio debate (Zhivoy zhurnal, or ZhZh for short) is by far the most with functionary and Duma deputy popular, rated ninth among all Russian websites.31 Evgeny Fedorov, Navalny blogged about it on the Ekho - 4 - Moskvy site,39 and the debate’s full transcript was avail- rioted on Manezhnaya Square next to the Kremlin to able almost immediately on the Web.40 “If government protest the killing of their comrade by a man from the functionaries were forced to defend publicly every con- North Caucasus—a still-rare instance of nyetizdat’s use by troversial law, at least before the Internet’s audience,” nonliberal movements. wrote leading opposition political commentator Andrei Following the arrest of opposition leader Boris Kolesnikov, “perhaps there would be a whiff of democ- Nemtsov, his fellow cochairman of the Party of People’s racy in the air.”41 “Online” and “offline,” he concluded, Freedom, Vladimir Milov, posted a blog post on Live- are moving toward each other.42 Journal titled “Bring Back Nemtsov, bastards!” (Vernite Nemtsova, gady!). The post called on readers to join A Virtual “Street” him in picketing the pretrial detention center where Nemtsov and “other new political prisoners” were being The line between the virtual and the real is further held. “Let these brazen extremists know that they can- blurred when nyetizdat touches off national protest cam- not frighten us,” Milov wrote. “Dress warmly and in old paigns. Videos have proved particularly “viral.” Among clothes. The authorities may not like our show of soli- the most popular are those of lethal traffic accidents darity and there may be beatings, arrests, and prison sen- caused by government or business mandarins (or their tences. But we are free citizens of our city and have the sons and daughters) driving on the wrong side of the right to walk wherever we want. I would like the bas- road, speeding, or disregarding traffic lights.43 Instantly tards fully to understand that.”48 Embedded in the post uploaded on YouTube and other sites, they have riled was a street map of the Moscow district where the deten- the Internet nation and led to public protests, like the tion center was located. impassioned antiregime soliloquy of Yuri Shevchuk, the singer of one of Russia’s oldest rock bands, DDT, or the 44 song by rapper Noiz MC (Ivan Alexeev). “The authorities may not like our show Petitions abound. Thousands signed letters to Medvedev asking for a fair trial—or at least mercy and of solidarity and there may be beatings, clemency—for , former CEO of Yukos, and Svetlana Bakhmina, a former Yukos lawyer arrests, and prison sentences. and mother of three convicted of “embezzlement” in a But we are free citizens of our city.” case even more obviously and shamelessly rigged than that against Khodorkovsky.45 A petition for Prime Min- ister Vladimir ’s resignation, posted on March 10, 2010, at Putinavotstavku.ru (“”), col- An Online Democracy: Organizations, lected almost 7,500 signatures in its first five days. A Institutions, and “Elections” month later, there were 34,655 signatures. Of those who signed the document, 79 percent were brave enough to Nyetizdat uses extend well beyond single acts of political put down not only their full name and profession, but and social mobilization. It is just as vital to day-to-day also their address.46 Over 70,000 people have signed the grassroots self-organization (something that has been in petition as of this writing, and there has been an upsurge short supply in the national political tradition), includ- in signatures in the past two months. ing membership development, fundraising, and the evo- The Internet was also indispensible to organizing the lution of objectives and tactics. national Day of Wrath in 2010, when Russia was swept Typical in this respect are the Internet applications of by rallies from to . In the sum- six Russian national and local organizations that I have mer of that year, when federal and local authorities had watched closely for over a year: Fellowship of the Active failed abjectly to deal with the fires that raged through- Citizens of Russia (Tovarshestvo Initsiativnykh Grazhdan out central Russia, volunteers used the Internet to Rossii, or TIGR, national), Federation of Motorists of coordinate defense and rescue efforts and to provide Russia (Federatsiya Avtovadel’tsev Rossii, or FAR, national), humanitarian assistance to the stricken areas.47 Twitter No to the Tower! (Bashne-net!, St. Petersburg), Baikal and other social networks were activated in December Ecological Wave (Baikal’skaya Eklogicheskaya Volna, 2010, when thousands of soccer fans descended and Irkutsk), Ecological Defense (Ecmo, Moscow), and Justice - 5 - (Spravedlivost, Kaliningrad).49 Markedly different in goals Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan, among others, and far and separated, in some cases, by half a dozen time zones, superior, for example, to China, Cuba, and Iran.56 these organizations are remarkably similar in one respect: With politics and television firmly under its control, their homepages have been the core of online social the Kremlin thus far seems to value nyetizdat as the only activism and mobilization. uncensored channel of societal feedback—next to public In addition to notifying members and sympathizers of opinion polls. The Web, as an opposition journalist upcoming actions, the sites provide relevant news and recently put it, is also the means of “letting off steam to display the e-mail addresses of leaders and activists, as prevent a blowup.”57 In the past two years, Medvedev well as links to their blogs on LiveJournal, Facebook, has set up commissions and expert groups to look into Twitter, and most popular Russian social networking some of the issues that lit up the Russian Web. In the sites such as V Kontakte and Moj Mir (“my world”). overwhelming majority of cases, including the car acci- There are photos and videos taken at the groups’ past dent mentioned above and the trial and sentencing of events, analysis and critique of relevant government Khodorkovsky, these commissions and expert groups are actions and pending legislation, and documented never heard from again, and the original court decisions instances of members’ harassment.50 and regulations stand once the furor dies down. Occa- With charity collections—most often for quality sionally, apolitical, “technical” regulations are amended medical treatment abroad—now a staple of the Russian after years of Internet protests and petitions. The recent Web, fundraising for other causes is becoming increas- suspension of car registration and simplification of ingly frequent as well. When Navalny asked for contri- inspection, notorious even in Russia for incompetence butions to launch RosPil last February, he received and bribe extortion, is one of the rare victories of 1.5 million rubles ($55,500) via Yandex-Wallet (Yandex- nyetizdat’s campaigns.58 koshelyok) within the first forty-eight hours and more than double that within the first week.51 By the most Nyetizdat is attempting to forge recent count, donations to Navalny have reached 6 mil- lion rubles ($220,000).52 democratic institutions to parallel Taking democratic self-organization to a national the ones subverted by the regime. level, nyetizdat is attempting to forge democratic institu- tions to parallel the ones subverted by the regime. Last October, in a virtual “election” of the mayor of Moscow With the December Duma elections approaching, on the sites Kommersant.ru and Gazeta.ru, Navalny won some regional authorities have decided to closely “moni- with 45 percent of the vote. Sergei Sobyanin, who was tor” key blogging platforms, ostensibly to better analyze eventually appointed mayor by Medvedev, received less problems and correct them more quickly. Whether the than 3 percent.53 Half a year later, Novaya gazeta launched collected information will be used, in the words of a “elections” to a “net parliament” (setevoy parlament) of Russian political scientist, as an “additional resource for Russia. The parliament was to “initiate legislation, edit the correction of mistakes” or a means of tracking down and amend the existing laws, and convene offline to dis- critics and “muzzling” them remains to be seen.59 cuss the most urgent issues.”54 In the end, 419 candi- dates were nominated by visitors to NovayaGazeta.ru, in . . . and Bare Knuckles LiveJournal, on Facebook, or by e-mail. In the second round of voting, fifteen “deputies” were selected from This relatively sophisticated “management” of the Inter- the top 125 vote getters.55 net is interspersed with a growing number of more tradi- tional authoritarian instances of intervention, mostly by The Regime: Feedback, “Letting Off Steam . . .” local, rather than federal, authorities. Between January 2009 and May 2010, there were at least twenty-five cases For now, the Russian Internet is mostly unshackled. In of blogger harassment, including eleven arrests, com- the Freedom on the Net 2011 survey of thirty-seven coun- pared with seven cases reported in 2006–2008.60 The tries by Freedom House, Russia is rated “partly free.” most common legal pretexts for blocking portals or sanc- Ru.net was twenty-second: slightly lower than Indonesia, tioning bloggers and Internet service providers—from Venezuela, Azerbaijan, and Rwanda but better than police interrogations and fines to arrests, trials, and - 6 - prison terms—have been charges of “extremism,” “incite- attacks in which thousands of virus-infected computers ment of inter-ethnic hatred,” “hatred toward armed (so called bot-nets) overwhelm the servers of targeted forces” or “hatred toward law enforcement personnel,” websites with requests.67 The government professed no and “insulting a representative of government.”61 knowledge of the attacks, and Medvedev called them While physical attacks on print journalists, including “outrageous and illegal.”68 He ordered a police investiga- maiming and murder, no longer shock Russians, assaults tion, but so far no culprits have been found. on bloggers are still rare. Only time will tell whether the With the DDoS attacks, Russia has joined a small still-unsolved savage beating in Moscow of Kommersant group of the most repressive Internet regimes such as reporter and opposition blogger Oleg Kashin—following Bahrain, Belarus, Burma, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, the threats posted by the youth wing of the United Russia Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Tunisia, and Vietnam, party, Young Guards (Moloday gvardiya)—is an exception where similar attacks have occurred in the past two to the rule or a portent. years.69 Recalling previous attacks on opposition web- sites,70 one of the theories bruited about in Moscow was One of the lessons of the Arab Spring has that the shutdowns of LiveJournal and NovayaGazeta.ru could have been rehearsals for an emergency crackdown been that even considerably low rates of by the authorities. In this scenario, the Kremlin would penetration may become subversive. attempt to shutter nyetizdat in a political crisis similar to the Arab Spring antiauthoritarian uprisings earlier this year, in which social media played a central role. Although Navalny has not been subjected to judicial, let alone physical, assaults, his remarkable run of impunity “People Need Justice” might be coming to an end. First, in early May 2011, many donors of the RosPil fundraising campaign received phone For all the remarkable strides it has made in the past few calls from “journalists” asking them why they supported years, nyetizdat is still far from the medium of choice for Navalny. (By law, Yandex is required to disclose the most Russians. In all probability, Russia will remain a identities and phone numbers of e-donors to the govern- television nation for quite some time. Yet just as certainly, ment’s “special services,” should they request such infor- the Internet nation will continue to grow, inventing mation.)62 A week later, the Investigative Committee of more effective tools of self-expression and self-organization. the Russian Federation announced that it initiated a “As a source of political news, the Internet is already criminal case against Navalny for alleged misdeeds during competing with television,” wrote Alexei Makarkin, a his stint as an unpaid adviser to a regional governor. The leading Russian political analyst and the director of the precise nature of Navalny’s transgressions has not been department of social and political problems at the disclosed, and he called the charges “comical.”63 In addition, Institute for Contemporary Development, chaired by some of Navalny’s clients (he is a lawyer by profession) Medvedev. “And among the young and highly educated were visited by Federal Security Service (FSB) agents.64 audience [the Internet] all but surpasses television. Inter- In early April, the head of the FSB’s information net users are willing to expend time on a search for security branch proposed “regulation” of Skype, Gmail, information that is objective, urgent, and unfiltered by and Hotmail because their “uncontrolled use” was “a censorship or self-censorship.”71 large-scale threat to the security of Russia.”65 A week or Makarkin might be a bit ahead of the game, but as a so later, while denying any intent of censoring the Inter- tendency his assessment is quite plausible. The Commu- net, Putin expressed concern in his April 20 address to nication and Press Ministry projects the number of the Federal Assembly that many of the key Internet regular Internet users at 80 million, or around 56 percent services are “provided from across the ocean.”66 of the population, in 2011.72 Consistent with global trends, growth among the young is expected to be espe- Hacker Attacks cially dramatic: by some estimates, 95 percent of Russians between ages eighteen and twenty-four will be using the In the last week of March and the first week of April, Internet daily by 2014.73 LiveJournal and NovayaGazeta.ru were repeatedly shut This may be less-than-stellar news for the Kremlin. down by distributed denial of service (DDoS) hacker One of the lessons of the Arab Spring has been that - 7 - even considerably low rates of penetration may become (accessed April 29, 2011); and “Internet v Rossii” [Internet in subversive. Or, as Navalny put it, coexisting with alter- Russia] (Analytical Bulletin No. 32, Public Opinion Foundation, native sources of information, “the regime’s inaptitude Moscow, Winter 2010–2011), table 1, http://bd.fom.ru/pdf [nedeesposobnost] that has been obvious for years” cannot /Internet%20v%20Rossii%20Vol32.%20Zima%202010- but result in “big problems for the regime—and these 2011_short.pdf (accessed June 21, 2011). problems will continue to grow.”74 6. Internet World Stats, “United States of America Internet Of course, several objective (material) and subjective Usage and Broadband Usage Report,” www.internetworldstats (ideas- and values-related) factors must coincide to effect .com/am/us.htm (accessed May 3, 2011). a major social and political change—which is why such 7. “Internet v Rossii” [Internet in Russia], table 1. changes are rare and their timing is unpredictable. Yet, it 8. Ibid., table 1.2. is clear that nyetizdat is now as much of an objective (or 9. Ibid. structural) factor contributing to the pressure for change 10. Andrew Kramer and Evelyn M. Rusli, “IPO Surge for as, for example, the popular resentment of corruption. Yandex, a Russian Search Engine,” New York Times, May 25, 2011. Nyetizdat has become a backbone of Russia’s civil society 11. Alexa, “Top Sites in Russia,” www.alexa.com/topsites that is growing and self-organizing despite the blocked /countries/RU (accessed May 3, 2011). politics and censored media. 12. Bruce Etling, Karina Alexanyan, John Kelly, Robert In the words of Kirill Kabanov, chairman of the Faris, John Palfrey, and Urs Gasser, “Mapping RuNet Politics National Anti-Corruption Committee, a nongovern- and Mobilization” (Berkman Center Research Publication No. mental organization that investigates state corruption, 2010-11, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard “People are not indifferent. They are only not ready to Law School, Cambridge, MA, October 19, 2010), 10. act just yet. But this can happen at any moment, we sim- 13. Maria Lipman and Nikolai Petrov, “Russia—2020” ply don’t know where that drop is that will overflow the (presentation, US-Russia Working Group, AEI, Washington, cup of patience. People, no matter how much they are DC, April 22, 2011); and Marketing.by, “Russia Demonstrates being made fools of, need justice.”75 the World’s Largest Growth Rates in Number of Social Net- works,” http://marketing.by/main/market/analytics/0042639 The author is grateful to AEI research assistant Daniel Vajdic, former AEI research assistant Julia Friedlander, former Russian (accessed May 3, 2011). studies intern Lara Johnson, and senior editor Laura Drinkwine 14. ComScore, “Russia Has Most Engaged Social Network- for their help in researching, editing, and producing this essay. ing Audience Worldwide,” news release, October 20, 2010, www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/10 Notes /Russia_Has_Most_Engaged_Social_Networking_Audience _Worldwide (accessed May 3, 2011). 1. Alexei Navalny, the most popular Russian blogger and 15. See, for example, Denis Volkov, “Televizor blizhe k anticorruption crusader, quoted in Anand Varghese, “Mapping narodu” [Television Is Closer to the People], Novaya gazeta, the Russian Blogosphere” (Peace Brief No. 72, US Institute of March 4, 2011. Peace, Washington, DC, December 20, 2010). 16. Bruce Etling, Karina Alexanyan, John Kelly, Robert 2. Although I arrived at the name on my own, the research Faris, John Palfrey, and Urs Gasser, “Mapping RuNet Politics for this Outlook turned up a speech delivered in April 2006 by and Mobilization,” 12. Professor Martin Dewhirst of the University of Manchester, in 17. Prim Marketing, “Dinamika rosta chisla internet- which he used the term Netizdat. See Martin Dewhirst, “Why and pol’zovateley v Rossii” [Growth Dynamic of Internet Users in How Does Novaya gazeta Get Away with It, and What Does It Russia], March 18, 2011, www.primmarketing.ru/analytics/ Get Away With?” (speech, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 2011/03/18/inet/61188 (accessed April 25, 2011). April 8, 2006). 18. Ibid. 3. Leon Aron, “Russia’s New Protesters,” AEI Russian Out- 19. Denis Volkov, “Televizor blizhe k narodu” [Television Is look (Spring 2010), www.aei.org/outlook/100964. Closer to the People]; and Denis Volkov, “Blogyer polprotsyenta” 4. Olga Razumovskaya, “IT Market Approaching Pre-Crisis [Half Percent Blogger], Gazeta.ru, March 28, 2011, www Glory Days,” Moscow Times, February 7, 2011. .gazeta.ru/comments/2011/03/28_a_3566465.shtml (accessed 5. , “Internet and bloggery v Rossii” [The April 25, 2011). Internet and Bloggers in Russia], national survey conducted 20. Denis Volkov, “Televizor blizhe k narodu” [Television Is March 18–21, 2011, www.levada.ru/press2011040602.hml Closer to the People]. - 8 -

21. Ibid. 35. Ilya Abishev, “U Navalnogo poyavilis posledovateli. 22. Danila Gal’perovich, “Aleksey Navalny: Kogda uydyot Ili konkurenty?” [Navalny Has Spawned Followers. Or Com- Putin” [Alexei Navalny: When Putin Leaves], Radio Free Europe, petitors?] BBC Russia, April 7, 2011, www.bbc.co.uk/russian April 7, 2011. /russia/2011/04/110406_roskomvzyatka_project.shtml (accessed 23. Dmitri Muratov, interview with the author at the edito- April 7, 2011). rial offices of Novaya gazeta, Moscow, Russia, February 8, 2011. 36. Danila Gal’perovich, “Aleksey Navalny: Kogda uydyot 24. For a sample of these blogs, see Bruce Etling, Karina Putin” [Alexei Navalny: When Putin Leaves]. Alexanyan, John Kelly, Robert Faris, John Palfrey, and Urs 37. Higher School of Economics, “Pooblichnaya diskoossiya Gasser, “Mapping RuNet Politics and Mobilization,” 24–25. Yaroslava Kooz’minova i Alyeksyeya Naval’nogo” [Yaroslav 25. [email protected] [[email protected]], http://top.mail.ru Kuzminov and Alexei Navalny’s Public Discussion], March 18, /Rating/MassMedia/month/Visitors/2.html (accessed April 27, 2011). 2011, www.hse.ru/news/recent/27534931.html (accessed 26. “Na etoy needle Novuyu v internete posetil soraka- June 22, 2011). millionnyy chitatel” [This Week Novaya gazeta Was Visited by 38. Anastasia Litvinova, “Dooel’ Naval’nogo i Kooz’minova the 40 Millionth Reader], Novaya gazeta, January 29, 2011, www zakonchilas’ so schyetom 0:0” [Navalny and Kuzminov’s Duel .novayagazeta.ru/data/2011/010/30.html (accessed June 24, 2011). Ended with a Score of 0:0], RBK Daily, June 24, 2011, www 27. “Nam nravitsya, chto vam nravitsya” [We Like What .rbcdaily.ru/2011/03/19/focus/562949979890676 (accessed You Like], Novaya gazeta, January 29, 2011, www.novayagazeta May 26, 2011). .ru/data/2011/010/30.html?print=201104060016 (accessed 39. Alexei Navalny, “Itog dyebatov: Ochyernit’ Yedinooyoo June 24, 2011). Rossiyoo mnye nye oodalos’” [Debates’ Result: I Have Failed to 28. Konstantin Poleskov, “DDoS-ataka na sayt ‘Novoy gazety’ Blacken the Image of United Russia], Ekho Moskvy, February i Setevoy parliament” [A DDoS-Attack on the Novaya gazeta 22, 2011, www.echo.msk.ru/blog/navalny/752177-echo Site and on the Net Parliament], Novaya gazeta, April 9, 2011. (accessed May 26, 2011). 29. Bruce Etling, Karina Alexanyan, John Kelly, Robert 40. “‘Yedinaya Rossiya’—partiya vorov i korrooptsionyerov Faris, John Palfrey, and Urs Gasser, “Mapping RuNet Politics ili chyestnih, printsipial’nih patriotov?” [“United Russia”—Party and Mobilization,” 13. of Thieves and Corrupt Officials or Honest, Principled Patriots?] 30. Freedom House, Freedom on the Net 2011: A Global Assess- Finam.fm, February 21, 2011, http://syzran-courier.ru/index ment of Internet and Digital Media (Washington, DC, April 18, .php?go=Pages&in=view&id=34 (accessed May 26, 2011). 2011), 274; and Bruce Etling, Karina Alexanyan, John Kelly, 41. Andrei Kolesnikov, “Politekonomiya: Setevaya Robert Faris, John Palfrey, and Urs Gasser, “Mapping RuNet democratiya v oflayne” [Political Economy: Internet Democracy Politics and Mobilization,” 12. Offline], Vedomosti, March 23, 2011. 31. Alexa, “Top Sites in Russia.” 42. Ibid. 32. Michael Schwirtz, “Russians Riled by Attacks on Blog- 43. For instance, in March 2010, a vice president of Lukoil, ging Service,” New York Times, April 8, 2011. Russia’s largest privately owned oil company, killed a seventy- 33. Ibid. two-year-old mother and her thirty-six-year-old daughter when 34. “Korruptsiya derzhit za gorlo ekonomiku rossii” [Corrup- his Mercedes turned into oncoming traffic (the “right” of siren- tion Is Holding the Russian Economy by the Throat], Forbes.ru, equipped elite cars) and rammed into their small car. As usual, March 30, 2011, www.forbes.ru/news/65639-medvedev- the police blamed the victims, but the family would not give in, korruptsiya-derzhit-za-gorlo-ekonomiku-rossii (accessed May 26, and Internet-generated publicity soon produced an outpouring 2011). According to Medvedev, a trillion rubles (around of support from, among others, the FAR. Thirteen nationally $37 billion) or around 3 percent of the country’s GDP is stolen prominent cultural figures posted an open letter to Medvedev annually from government contracts. See “Myedvyedyev: Vorovstvo on the Internet, asking for his help in ensuring an unbiased pri goszakoopkah dostigayet bolyeye 1 trilliona roob” [Medvedev: investigation. See Leon Aron, “Russia’s New Protesters.” Theft in State Purchases Reaches More Than 1 Trillion Rubles], 44. Noize MC (Ivan Alexeev), “Mercedes S666,” YouTube, RIA Novosti, October 29, 2010, www.rian.ru/economy February 28, 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPXtawGmZgQ /20101029/290523085.html (accessed May 26, 2011); and (accessed March 29, 2010). For details, see Leon Aron, “Russia’s “Myedvyedyev: V sistyemye goszakoopok yezhyegodno vorooyoot New Protesters.” odin trillion rooblyey” [Medvedev: In the System of State Pur- 45. For details, see Leon Aron, “,” AEI Russian Out- chases, One Trillion Rubles Is Being Stolen Annually], Grani.ru, look (Spring 2008), www.aei.org/outlook/27958. October 29, 2010. 46. Leon Aron, “Russia’s New Protesters.” - 9 -

47. Elena Chinyaeva, “The Russian Use of Internet: A Virtual 61. For instance, a prodemocracy activist in Penza has been Discourse Shapes Reality,” Eurasia Daily Monitor, January 11, 2011. under investigation since July 2010 for a cartoon of Ramzan 48. Vladimir Milov, “Vyernitye Nyemtsova, gadi!” [Return Kadyrov, the dictator of , on his Facebook page. In Nemtsov, Bastards!] LiveJournal, January 4, 2011, http://v- January 2011, a court in Ulan-Ude (the capital of the milov..com/305621.html (accessed June 27, 2011). Autonomous Republic of Buryatia in southeastern Siberia) 49. The goals, strategy, and tactics of these organizations and levied a fine against two Solidarity activists for allegedly movements will be further explored in the summer Russian Out- “inciting hatred toward the members of the military and law look, to be written after a field research trip to Russia. enforcement.” In February, an eighteen-year-old man in the 50. I am grateful to Russian studies interns Lara Johnson and Autonomous Republic of Mari-El (east central Russia) was Valentina Lukin for the sites’ content research on which I draw charged with the incitement of hatred of police for a posting on in this section. his V Kontakte page. In April, the leader of the Orel (south cen- 51. Dmitri Muratov, interview with the author at the edito- tral Russia) regional chapter of the prodemocratic United Civil rial offices of Novaya gazeta; and Julia Ioffe, “Net Impact,” The Front was called in for an interrogation after his post in Live- New Yorker, April 4, 2011. Journal allegedly “insulting” Putin. Also in April, a court in the 52. Ilya Abishev, “U Navalnogo poyavilis posledovateli. Ili capital of the Autonomous Republic of Bashkortostan, , sen- konkurenty?” [Navalny Has Spawned Followers. Or Competitors?] tenced a blogger to three and a half years and a website editor to 53. Artem Krechetnikov, “Navalny: Intsident s ‘RosPilom’— six years for “calls to extremist activity.” See “V Ufe bloger i davlenie na internet” [Navalny: The ‘RosPil’ Incident [Is] Pres- oppozitsionnyi publitsist osuzhdeny po 282-y stat’e” [A Blogger sure on the Internet], BBC Russia, May 3, 2011, www.bbc.co and Opposition Commentator Are Convicted per Article 282 .uk/russian/russia/2011/05/110503_navalny_incident_comments (of the Criminal-Procedural Code)], Grani.ru, April 19, 2011, .shtml (accessed May 3, 2011). www.grani.ru/Society/Media/m.187920.html (accessed April 29, 54. “Setevoy parlament: Registratsiya kandidatov zakanchiva- 2011). In August 2010, a local provider in Tula (central Russia) etsya segodnya” [The Net Parliament: The Registration of blocked a portal for posting articles “critical of the government,” Candidates Ends Today], Novaya gazeta, March 25, 2011, www and in December a regional network provider blocked access to .novayagazeta.ru/data/2011/031/13.html?print=201128041412 the environmental site Ecmo.ru after the site posted a petition (accessed April 28, 2011). for the dismissal of a local mayor. See Freedom House, Freedom 55. “Setevoy parlament Runeta pervogo sozyva” [The First on the Net 2011: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Net Parliament of the Ru.net], www.novayagazeta.ru/data Media, 272. /2011/049/49.html (accessed May 11, 2011). Among the 62. Artem Krechetnikov, “Navalny: Intsident s ‘RosPilom’— elected “deputies” were (in order of the number of votes they davlenie na internet” [Navalny: The ‘RosPil” Incident [Is] Pres- received) Shevchuk; Navalny; Mikhail Vel’makov, cochair- sure on the Internet]. man of the Moscow chapter of Solidarity; Andrei Altukhov, 63. Danila Gal’perovich, “Navalny + FSB—naydyotsya executive director of the Party of Young Conservatives; vsyo?” [Navalny + FSB—Will They Find What They Are Look- Evgeny Konovalov, chairman of the Russian Social-Democratic ing For?] Radio Free Europe, May 10, 2011, www.svobodanews Union of Youth; Andrei Piontkovsky, a prominent opposition .ru/content/article/24097239.html (accessed May 20, 2011). blogger, essayist, and writer; and , cochair- 64. Ibid. man of the Party of People’s Freedom. 65. Michael Schwirtz, “Russians Riled by Attacks on Blog- 56. Freedom House, Freedom on the Net 2011: A Global ging Service”; and Will Englund, “Top Officials Diverge on Assessment of Internet and Digital Media, 12–13. Internet Freedom,” Washington Post, April 9, 2011. 57. Yuri Geyko, “Podbrosim v vozdukh chepchiki” [Let’s 66. , “Ob otchyotye Pravityel’stva Rossiyskoy Throw Our Caps in the Air], Novaya gazeta, May 2, 2011. o ryezool’tatah yego dyeyatyel’nosti Fyedyeratsii za 2010 god” 58. Ibid.; Will Englund, “Russian Car Inspections Suspended [The Russian Government’s Account about the Results of Its over Bribery,” Washington Post, May 27, 2011. Activities for 2010] (address to the Federal Assembly, Moscow, 59. Maria Gutorova, “Meriya uznaet vsyu pravdu Russia, April 20, 2011), www.duma.gov.ru/representative ZhZh-zhizni” [The Mayor’s Office Will Learn the Entire Truth /government-hour/otchet2011.pdf (accessed June 23, 2011). of the LiveJournal’s Life], www.kommersant.ru/doc/1629724 67. Konstantin Poleskov, “DDoS-ataka na sayt ‘Novoy (accessed April 27, 2011). gazety’ i Setevoy parliament” [A DDoS-Attack on the Novaya 60. Freedom House, Freedom on the Net 2011: A Global gazeta Site and on the Net Parliament]; and Michael Schwirtz, Assessment of Internet and Digital Media, 269. “Russians Riled by Attacks on Blogging Service.” - 10 -

68. Michael Schwirtz, “Russians Riled by Attacks on 71. Alexei Makarkin, “Otkrytie politiki” [The Opening of Blogging Service.” Politics], Gazeta.ru, May 12, 2011, www.gazeta.ru/comments 69. Freedom House, Freedom on the Net 2011: A Global /2011/05/12_x_3614193.shtml (accessed May 12, 2011). Assessment of Internet and Digital Media, 6. 72. Olga Razumovskaya, “IT Market Approaching Pre-Crisis 70. For instance, in 2008 DDoS attacks temporarily shut down Glory Days.” Kasparov.ru, at that time the Internet portals of the United Civil 73. Prim Marketing, “Dinamika rosta chisla internet-pol’zovateley Front party, Grani.ru, , Ekho Moskvy, v Rossii” [Growth Dynamic of Internet Users in Russia]. the March of Dissenters, and Kommersant. See “Russian Opposi- 74. Danila Gal’perovich, “Navalny + FSB—naydyotsya tion Websites Shut Down by Attacks,” The Other Russia, vsyo?” [Navalny + FSB—Will They Find What They Are December 25, 2008, www.theotherrussia.org/2008/12/25 Looking For?] /russian-opposition-websites-shut-down-by-attacks (accessed 75. Ilya Abishev, “U Navalnogo poyavilis posledovateli. Ili January 15, 2011). konkurenty?” [Navalny Has Spawned Followers. Or Competitors?]