Social Media Giants Are at the Center of a Censorship Scandal in Russia — Again · Global Voices
<PERSON>'s report alleges corruption on the part of Russia's Deputy PM. Now the government media regulator wants the video censored // Screencap by <PERSON>
Although barred from running in the 2018 presidential elections, Russian activist <PERSON> has found a way to ensure he stays in the news.
On February 8 , <PERSON> and his Anti-Corruption Foundation, an organization dedicated to publicizing corruption scandals and property holdings of Russian politicians, shined their spotlight on a trail of evidence linking a Russian oligarch and the Russian deputy prime minister.
The revelations have triggered a sharp response from Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor, which ordered Instagram, YouTube and multiple Russian media sites to remove posts related to the scandal. Nearly all of the posts targeted have since been taken down, in one way or another.
From a ‘sex hunt’ to a national scandal
<PERSON>'s report is based chiefly on the writings and social media postings of <PERSON>, a Belarusian national (real name <PERSON>) and the author of a book entitled “ Diary of a billionaire’s seduction.” In the book, <PERSON> describes her relationship with <PERSON>, a Russian oligarch and aluminum industry billionaire, who has become a prominent figure in US media coverage of congressional investigations into Russian election interference.
US president <PERSON>’s one-time campaign chairman <PERSON> resigned after it was discovered that he had reached out to <PERSON> offering to provide inside information on the <PERSON> campaign.
Using thinly-veiled code names, <PERSON> describes her visits with <PERSON>, from the moment of their meeting to a trip on <PERSON>'s yacht near Norway, where they made a secret detour to meet with Russian Deputy PM <PERSON>. This meeting on the yacht also appeared in a video on <PERSON>'s Instagram account.
In a small snippet of conversation she captured in the video, we hear <PERSON> and <PERSON> discussing the worsening of US-Russian relations, and speculating on why one American official has a negative opinion of Russia. <PERSON>'s book also alleges that <PERSON> flew to Norway with the express purpose of meeting <PERSON>.
This information had been available for some time in <PERSON>’s book, which was published in early 2017. But it seemed to have slipped under the radar of mainstream media, until <PERSON> captured <PERSON>'s attention by posting a video online in which she declared to carry out a “sex hunt” targeting <PERSON>.
Despite <PERSON>'s peculiar approach, upon reading her account of the relationship and reviewing her Instagram posts, <PERSON> decided that this was indeed a story. 880
If the oligarch paid for the deputy prime minister’s travel arrangements, which seemed likely to <PERSON>'s group, this would constitute a bribe.
<PERSON> brought <PERSON>'s story into the spotlight with a featured video about the scandal on his website and YouTube channel. <PERSON>'s video report on the revelations (which can be viewed here in its entirety with English and German subtitles) has already been viewed more than five million times in one week.
This wave of attention led <PERSON> to sue <PERSON> on privacy grounds . <PERSON> is married, so this is undoubtedly causing him some consternation at home.
In the meantime, <PERSON>'s book has become a best-seller.
Instagram and local sites cave to censorship demands
<PERSON> also filed an injunction with Russia's federal media regulator, Roskomnadzor, asking the agency to demand that the videos and associated online reports be removed. This caused Roskomnadzor to unleash a blitz of censorship protocols that ultimately targeted Instagram, YouTube, Navalny's website and various Russian news sites, that were either pressured or ordered to take down all copies of the yacht visit video. Most of the local sites — along with Instagram — have since complied.
The regulator ordered Navalny to delete the relevant post from his website, to which Navalny refused. ISPs were thus ordered to block navalny.com, though the group has now employed circumvention measures to keep the site accessible. Navalny responded by suing Roskomnadzor for threatening to blacklist his site.
Roskomnadzor also obtained a court order which it served to Instagram, demanding that the Facebook-owned social media site delete some of Rybka’s Instagram posts that figured prominently in the <PERSON> investigation. 880