The government of Russia is not only at loggerheads with Ukraine, but also with media whose reports do not match those of state propaganda channels. What the Russian population hears about the war of aggression against Ukraine is subject to strict controls. Throttling numerous Internet services, including Twitter and Facebook, and putting pressure on the last free media with independent sources of information in the country are part of the daily business of the Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor.
Now Russia wants to get a hold of the well-known online encyclopedia “Wikipedia” and is threatening a national block if they don’t shut down the website about the Ukraine war.
The Wikimedia Foundation does not have to think long about this demand for censorship and gives it a clear rejection. The Wikipedia articles on the Ukraine war are an important source of information, especially in delicate crisis situations like these.
But that doesn’t suit Russia. The government takes offense at the very word “war”. According to Putin’s wish, the number of deaths among Russian soldiers and also on the side of Ukrainian civilians should be withheld from the Russian population.
But Wikipedia is not the only well-known Internet service affected by the restrictions. In addition to Facebook and Twitter, the video platform YouTube is said to be not spared. The accusation of spreading “false information” via YouTube videos has the same goal as the threat to the Wikimedia Foundation: the isolating of the Russian Internet from independent foreign services and Western companies.
There is now a whole list of companies withdrawing or restricting services – both online and offline – from Russia. Among them, well-known companies such as Apple, Amazon, Netflix and most recently Pornhub are trying to make a statement against Putin’s authoritarian leadership style and his attack on Ukraine – the eXXpress reported.
