Communicating with the Nation: Russian Politicians Online

RUSSIAN ANALYTICAL DIGEST No. 123, 21 February 2013 10

ANALYSIS

Communicating with the Nation: Russian Politicians Online By Natalia Moen-Larsen, Oslo, Norway Abstract Russia has the largest Internet market in Europe, and Internet use is increasing rapidly. The use of social media has become a valuable tool for the opposition movement; while incumbent political figures have a rapidly expanding online presence. The former president of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, has actively utilized the Internet for political purposes, and promoted its use among other state officials and politicians in Russia. This article explores Internet use among the Russian political elite in general, and exam- ines Medvedev’s official weblog in particular. By looking at the function of user comments on the blog, the author assesses communication between the authorities and the people. The article concludes with a prognosis as to the future of this new form of political communication under President Putin, who succeeded Dmitri Medvedev in May 2012.

Policy-Making in Russia Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). RuNet is The Russian state is often envisioned as centralized, with a linguistically and culturally distinct cyberspace, with power concentrated around the institution of the pres- its own popular web portals, social network sites and idency and the position of the prime minister. How- e-mail services; it is now among the world’s fastest-grow- ever, Russian policy-making also involves a wider cast ing Internet spheres. of characters whose roles need to be explored, so it is The use of social networks like blogs is popular important to look for interaction between power and among RuNet users. By the end of 2010, more than 19 the people. Even when this communication is choreo- million Russians a month visited blog platforms, with graphed and controlled, it may nonetheless contribute the most popular listed as LiveJournal.com—a blog site to policy-making. Through his Kremlin blog, the for- with around 14.4 million users per month and 2.1 mil- mer president, Dmitry Medvedev, had the opportunity lion visitors daily. In July 2012, there were more than to communicate his message(s) to millions of Russians— 55 million blogs on RuNet. However, only 10 percent of and millions of Russians could leave their comments these are updated at least once a month and can there- and directly communicate with him. Ideally, these com- fore be considered active. LiveJournal.com has both the ments and the input of the broader public should have most active bloggers in linking and the highest number some influence on decision-making, at least serving to of active blogs on RuNet. alert the authorities to trends and currents. In light of recent developments in Russia, including public and Political Use of the Internet political unrest following the 2011/12 election cycle, In recent years, the watchdog function of the Russian the importance of the Internet in issues such as these Internet has been strong. Opposition figures like Alek- seem set to increase. sei Navalny and others have used their social network Russia has Europe’s largest Internet market in terms accounts to expose corruption and other power abuses of the number of users—due to the country’s large popu- by state officials. Additionally, the Internet has proven lation, but also to the growing popularity of the Internet an important tool for organizing and coordinating polit- and the number of people with online access. Internet ical protests and other actions since the December 2011 penetration in Russia is increasing rapidly. The greatest parliamentary elections. This development may in time rise is in the number of daily users, indicating that the lead the regime to take firmer control, but as yet there Internet is becoming both accessible and indispensable are few signs of stricter Internet censorship being insti- at the workplace, in educational facilities and at home. gated in Russia. On the other hand Russian cyberspace In 2011, the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass is frequently subjected to “cyber-attacks,” which can Communication forecast that by 2014, 71 percent of incapacitate online web communities for days on end. Russians aged 18 and over will have regular Internet These attacks usually target opposition websites at crit- access. This prognosis contradicts the view of the Inter- ical times, particularly in conjunction with elections or net as an elite medium dominated by or restricted to public demonstrations, and are a key strategy for con- urban and educated users, and supports the idea that trolling online speech in Russia. In addition a new law the ambition of the state is to have more ordinary Rus- ostensibly aimed at protecting children from informa- sians online. Russia has also developed its own cyber- tion “dangerous for their health and development” came space, RuNet, which extends to other countries in the into force in November 2012. This law authorizes the RUSSIAN ANALYTICAL DIGEST No. 123, 21 February 2013 11

blocking of websites if they carry “unlawful” content. one can comment on directly. Perhaps the blogosphere This recent development indicates a stricter regulation can be seen as a place of free speech as well as uncen- of the Internet in Russia in the future. Nevertheless, for sored discussion. But what happens with the notions of now the Internet in Russia is both accessible and has free speech and the mixture of public and private when remained relatively free of filtering. the blogger is Russia’s most public figure of all—the This does not mean that the Internet is purely a tool president himself? for critical voices and individuals wanting to oppose the Although blogs may be used as an arena where peo- official discourse. Various political actors and state offi- ple can share information and communicate as equals, cials—among them Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Rogozin, that is not really the case with Medvedev’s blog. It pro- Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Sergey Mironov, Dmitry Gud- vides users with carefully edited clips of the current kov—have become very active online, mostly through Prime Minister, which can, through the comments left blogs on LiveJournal.com and other sites. These blogs by viewers, inform the authorities of the attitudes and can be seen as a private political sphere, where individ- opinions of the population. The blog also gives readers ual politicians can lead discussions on topics they are a potentially edited version of public opinion, thereby interested in, enhancing the idea of open and authen- projecting a particular version of reality. tic communication and thus strengthening the level of In order to leave a comment on the blog, the indi- voter trust. vidual must be a registered user; this increases the pos- Since the launch of his article “Forward, Russia!” in sibility of tracing the user and may in turn contribute to 2009, Dmitry Medvedev has been synonymous with self-censorship. Additionally, there are several rules relat- attempts at “modernizing” Russia. He has been a leading ing to grammar and respect for the Russian language force in promoting Internet use among state officials and etc., in practice giving the administrators ample oppor- politicians, and was awarded the title “RuNet Blogger of tunity to remove unwanted comments. There is also the year” in 2011. His online presence can in many ways tentative evidence that such removal is practised exten- be seen as part of the political elite’s attempt to expand sively. As of 29 June 2012, the blog on Medvedev’s offi- its influence over the electorate through direct commu- cial website had 149,000 active users, 33,000 of whom nication—a form of political advertising and market- had left comments; altogether, more than 155,500 thou- ing. On the other hand, this web-presence may be seen sand comments were published on the site. The blog as as a way of combating potential threats through effec- such is accessible to everyone, and the videos and com- tive counter-information—a means of exerting greater ments can be viewed without registration: registration control over digital space. Political blogging is a largely is required only in order to leave a comment. However, understudied topic, but one highly important for under- a pertinent question—and one that would seem to indi- standing Russian political communication. cate widespread removal of comments—is why 116,000 visitors would register their user profiles if they had no Communication on Dmitry Medvedev’s intention of leaving comments. Video Blog In order to assess the communication between the On 7 October 2008, Dmitry Medvedev made his first people and power on Medvedev’s blog, the author ana- video blog entry on blog.kremlin.ru; exactly one year later lysed a sample of 456 comments left by users and 20 his blog was connected to LiveJournal. While admit- video blog entries. The data cover the period March ting that he is not the actual author behind his blog 2008–March 2011, when Medvedev was head of state. videos, Medvedev has explained he personally controls In-depth analysis has shown a generally weak connec- their content. By connecting to Russia’s most active tion between the discourse in Medvedev’s videos and blog platform, Medvedev sought to expand his audi- user comments, which is not indicative of well-function- ence and reach more of the electorate. As of July 2012, ing two-way communication. Blog visitors appeared to the blog contained 224 short video clips, some 2 to 14 be using the blog as a mailbox through which to con- minutes in duration. However, the Internet is a dynamic tact Medvedev, rather than an arena of communication medium, and the number of blog entries has been grow- where users first listened to what the president was say- ing steadily, as the blog is updated often. ing and then commented on it. It is possible to access Medvedev’s messages in writ- This conclusion is further underlined by the fact that ten text through a link under each video, while a link to only 82 comments were posted in connection with a spe- the right of every video entry invites the visitor to leave cific video blog entry, whereas the remaining 374 were a comment. Users have two ways to leave a comment on posted directly in the comments section. On the other the blog—through the link next to any of Medvedev’s hand, in the data sample there was one example of two- videos, or through a link to sixty different topics which way communication that might have had an effect in RUSSIAN ANALYTICAL DIGEST No. 123, 21 February 2013 12

life outside the virtual world: one particular law—Fed- “Russia and the Changing World” from the 2012 presi- eral Law N 343-FZ “On Mandatory Social Insurance dential campaign, Putin wrote of the Internet as an effec- in the case of Temporary Disability and in the case of tive tool for promoting domestic and international policy. Maternity Leave,’’ was revised after considerable neg- So far, Putin has refrained from opening his own ative blog-site response. This indicates that although video blog for communicating with the general public, signs of two-way communication are weak in the sam- nor are there any indications that this is something he ple, they are not totally lacking. Viewers’ comments were will do in the immediate future. Being a modern blog- indeed being read and noted; further, it shows that the ger was so much a part of Medvedev’s political image blog, and the Internet as a whole, are at least to some that it might be considered a negative step for Putin extent used to access public opinion, even resulting in to engage actively with the Internet in the same way changes to appease the electorate. as the previous president. For his part, Medvedev has remained an important figure among the Russian politi- The Future Under Putin cal elite, now as prime minister, and the number of gov- Dmitry Medvedev was a tech-savvy president with a pas- ernment-backed Internet initiatives is growing steadily. sion for discussing modernization, as well as for using Medvedev’s blog is still active on LiveJournal and on the products made by Apple. What will happen to Internet prime minister’s official webpage premier.gov.ru. The communication now that Vladimir Putin has reclaimed rapid growth of the Internet in Russia indicates that this the Russian presidency? Putin has always been ambiv- new communication tool has come to stay and should alent towards the Internet, even though in 2006 he be taken seriously. Medvedev’s initiatives—the Devel- became the first Russian leader to interact directly with opment Program for e-Democracy, the Open Govern- an Internet audience, answering questions during an ment Project and the Russia Without Fools Project— event organized by the Russian Internet company Yan- show that it is. dex. Later in 2010, at a meeting of the State Council, The effects of this state-led communication call for he appeared to discredit the Net, declaring that it was a further analysis. We need studies examining the degree known fact that pornography accounts for 50 percent of of change in policies that affect issues raised in the blogo- all material found online. Then, in his campaign article sphere in order to assess if the discourse that dominates the virtual world has any relevance in the real world.

About the Author Natalia Moen-Larsen is a research assistant at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).

Acknowledgement This article is a product of the NUPI research project, “Modernizing the Russian North: Politics and Practice,” funded by the Research Council of Norway.

Further reading • Alexanyan, K. (ed.) (2009) Internet Blogs. Russian Analytical Digest 69. Available at http://www.css.ethz.ch/publica tions/pdfs/RAD-69.pdf. • Alexanyan, K., V. Barash, B. Etling, R. Faris, U. Gasser, J. Kelly, J. Palfrey & H. Roberts (2012) Exploring Rus- sian Cyberspace: Digitally-Mediated Collective Action and the Networked Public Space. Berkman Center Research Publication 2012-2. • Deibert, R., J. Palfrey, R. Rohozinski & J. Zittrain (eds) (2010) Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. • Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication (2010) Internet v Rossii: Sostoyanie, Tendencii i Perspektivi Razvitiya. Available at http://www.fapmc.ru/magnoliaPublic/dms-static/7180131a-52db-4002-9408-e2403280a861.pdf. Accessed 4 October 2012.