Well, President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree imposing sanctions against the largest Russian Internet resources like Yandex (similar to Google) “Kinopoisk” (IMDb), Facebook (Facebook) and Odnoklassniki (similar to Polish service Nasza Klasa). Providers are required to block access in the sanctions list of sites and services. Before we get to the statement that all of it sucks, explain why politicians think differently.
The main argument sounds like to sit in the Internet (for the common man or businessman) is all the same what to sell the gigabytes of information you are looking for Russian intelligence services. This is known by everyone who had the pleasure to talk with FSB officers about his activities on the network. And to anticipate the objections of left-wing admirers of Putin, is not the same that transmit their data to Zuckerberg, especially from the point of view of the country in whose territory there is a war: “old school”, with soldiers, tanks, and modern — in the online space. The question is not too late if this argument for three years.
Less compelling is the problem of misinformation. “VKontakte” or “Yandex”, of course, are teeming with Russian propaganda, but will disappear if, for example, Islamic extremism, if you disable Twitter? Groups and trolls will easily take their business to other channels of communication (or, rather, more actively develop its activities), which will collect a greater or less number of new confused Internet users. We also know (because it’s 2017!), the information that was censored or shrouded in a mysterious aura, sold much better.
Absolutely untenable seems the argument for the suppression of piracy. The Internet is, of course, a rich Treasury, filled with texts of culture, science, and porn, and if something is not in RuTracker or in the VC (this is Facebook, where you can find music, movies and e-books), then it does not exist in nature. How to react devoid of cheap and convenient content access society in the fight against piracy, we do, however, remember the protests against ACTA (the International agreement to combat counterfeiting — approx. transl.).
To clarify the situation: VK or Yandex — it is not a modest company offering the same services that Facebook or Google. I know a lot of Ukrainians and Russians, who stopped using Russian services for ideological reasons or for their own safety, but this is just a handful of people somehow related to political activity. Refusing the services of the Russian giants, they oppose technological postcolonialism, but at the same time complicate your life. In many aspects (maps, search engine, web Analytics) Google just can’t cope with the post-Soviet space (including the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet), which, however, was the result of a conscious strategy of the Kremlin.
In fact, a Google search in Russian resembles the use of search Onet in the ‘ 90s, navigating Google Maps in the Russian province — a game-Walker, and getting Russian books in the West torrents — purchases in the store, Empik (Polish chain of bookstores, which customers criticized for a poor range of publications — approx. transl.).
Lock Runet not only complicate private lives of millions of Ukrainians (the VC are now more than 20 million people, i.e. 78% of Ukrainian users, “Yandex” about 50%, and “Classmates” have become synonymous with the Internet). It will create problems for small and medium business, which is engaged in the promotion primarily in the Internet and used banned accounting and antivirus software (the list of prohibited companies is, including “Kaspersky Lab”). I belong to the followers of Pro-government leftist, so let me omit the subject of a huge black market, which turns a trade communication channels (selling popular groups, etc.).
On the front of the information war Ukraine loses its access to the Russian propaganda machine. After the blockade, the Internet will be cut off from a strong resistance group and engaged in factchecking forces. At least partly because of the sanctions followed the introduction of penalties for circumvention of the ban, for example, by means of VPN connections. About their existence thanks to the simple instructions that distributed the affected resources, learned millions most non-technically proficient people, and the phrase “bypassing the blockade” came from the Ukrainian users of Google in the first place by popularity. However, even if the law prescribes any punishment, the possibility that they will be able to enforce questionable (unless, of course, Ukraine does not implement the North Korean model of Internet).
Restricting access to the Internet will be a gift for Russian propaganda, which turned to how to “canachites,” began joyfully to advance the thesis of “fascist propaganda” and that “people don’t help, and the Internet is taken away”. Russian and Ukrainian Internet expected filled memes on the subject, and the message received support from the top: state TV channel “Russia 24” showed the material about how to confront the Ukrainian censorship. Such a cynical strategy (and we are talking about a state that was a pioneer in the fight against the Internet, for example, recently Russia has blocked the Linkedin service) is a classic of the genre “you are lynching Negroes”, a completely cynical manipulation of the crumbs of truth, a propaganda tool, well-established in Soviet times.
Events in Ukraine will develop in one of two scenarios. In the first people EN masse to get around the blockade (the Ukrainian intelligence services, of course, will not be able to resist) that will clearly expose an incredible weakness of the state. In the second mass frustration caused by the inability to get into the usual corners of the Internet, will result in further disappointment in postmedieval Ukraine. Both scenarios would be for the Kremlin gift.
Dissatisfaction, which was found ambiguous decision Poroshenko, should also serve as a lesson to the West, which feebly trying to fight with fake news. After reading the whole day the Internet to, I can confidently say that it won’t work. Wait, but what will happen next.
