Russians under the yoke of censorship | War in Ukraine

Since the adoption on March 4 of a law providing for up to 15 years in prison for anyone publishing misleading information on the army, a leaden blanket fell on the country.

Military censorship has had disastrous consequences for press freedom, underlines Jeanne Cavelier, head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia office of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The vast majority of independent media have either been blocked or forced to suspend their activities. Hundreds of journalists have left the country or are trying to do so.

The national press was targeted, but also the local media. RSF reports the case of several journalists or media owners who have been sentenced for articles discrediting the Russian army and forced to pay heavy fines. This is particularly the case of Sergueï Mikhaïlov, of the weekly Listok, by Mikhail Afanasiev, from the online newspaper Novy Fokusand Maria Ponomarenko, from the news site RusNews, who face several years in prison.

Several journalists have been fined or imprisoned for defying the law of March 4 or March 22, which aims to punish misleading information on the action of Russian state bodies abroad. Others were arrested for covering anti-war protests.

These laws make it possible to encompass all sorts of situations, explains Jeanne Cavelier. Like all laws targeting freedom of expression in Russia, they are extremely vague. If you report on the price increase saying that it is the consequence of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, it can be considered as discrediting the Russian army.

” Everything is subject to the interpretation of the judges, who are subject to the pressures of power. It is the law of arbitrariness. »

Several foreign media, including CNN, the New York Times and Radio-Canada, preferred to withdraw their correspondents to Russia so as not to expose them to criminal prosecution.

Like journalists, ordinary citizens using social networks can also be fined or imprisoned for sharing information that displeases the authorities. The Russian-language site Meduza, based in Latvia, reports the case of an 11-year-old child from the Volgograd region taken into custody for having discredited the Russian army on social networks.

It is freedom of expression as a whole that is targetedbelieves Ms. Cavelier.

RSF is concerned about the forthcoming adoption of another law which plans to revoke the license of Russian and foreign media and to block them immediately if they broadcast false information on the army, if they disrespect to the authorities or if they call for participation in unauthorized events. Foreign media could also be blocked in retaliation if their state of origin restricts access to Russian media.

Canadian and European media could be targeted, since Canada and the European Union have blocked access to the websites of state media RT and Sputnik.

Since the beginning of its offensive in Ukraine, Russia has banned many local and foreign media, as well as social networks Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

” Russia will turn into an information black hole. »

To help journalists in exile to reorganize and continue their work, RSF has set up a dedicated fund which has enabled the famous newspaper Novaya Gazeta (which had suspended its activities in March) to be reborn and begin its online publications under the name of Novaia Gazeta Europe.

The idea is to try to ensure that Russian journalism continues to exist, that we can continue to investigate, even outside the country.explains Jeanne Cavelier.

Mass exile

This leaden screed is what drives not only journalists, but also tens of thousands of Russians to flee their country.

More than 50,000 Russians have gone into exile in Georgia or Armenia, neighboring countries which do not require entry visas, and tens of thousands of others are in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Greece or Bulgaria, in particular .

It’s a real exodus that can be compared to the exodus after the Russian revolution in 1917observes Vera Ageeva, doctoral student at Sciences Po Paris.

The intelligentsia is leaving, but so are skilled workers, Ageeva said, citing the example of artificial intelligence specialists of whom at least 70,000 were planning to leave in April, according to the Russian Electronic Communications Association. The Russian company Yandex, which specializes in the field, has even opened an office in Yerevan, Armenia, to allow its exiled employees to continue working remotely, says Vera Ageeva.

She herself left St. Petersburg in 2019, feeling that the situation was deteriorating. I was a university professor, and when I reflected on my academic career in Russia, I was quite pessimistic because I saw that for Russia, at the political level, there were two scenarios: a bad scenario and a even worse. I couldn’t see how this diet could end well.

A reality that is also noted by Anne Le Huérou, lecturer at the University of Paris Nanterre, associated with the Center for Studies of the Russian, Caucasian and Central European Worlds. Among those who leave are opponents, young men who are old enough to do their military service and are afraid of being sent to war, as well as many researchers, intellectuals and journalists, who are trying to recreate a sort of community in exile.

Go or stay? The choice is not easy.

Are those who leave cowards? Or is it those who remain who remain because they collaborate? asks Anne Le Huérou. This is a hotly debated issue in Russia.

Exile is not possible for everyone. Starting a new life elsewhere, when you only speak Russian or don’t have a diploma, it’s far from easy, explains Vera Ageeva.

There are quite a few people who have elderly parents whom they have to take care of. Others have children, she illustrates. And there are others who say: we don’t want to leave our country, why do we have to? We want to live here. We are against everything that is happening, but this is our home, this is our homeland, this is our family here.

The father of one of her friends, a medical specialist, was arrested for demonstrating against the war. He faces a prison sentence. But he didn’t want to leave, because he doesn’t know a foreign languageexplains Ms. Ageeva.

Alongside those who explicitly oppose, others endure the situation even if they disagree with the authorities, believes Anne Le Huérou.

” There are red lines which are not the same for everyone. »

There are a lot of people who know very well that [le discours des autorités] it’s nonsense, but they don’t want, or don’t have the courage, to take the step of a disagreement, a form of dissidence, even exile, if they have a good job , a house, children who are studying, a career plan, etc., she says. They keep hanging on to that.

Others protect themselves, by a somewhat unconscious mechanism, believes Ms. Le Huérou. It’s so huge [la propagande] that to stop believing in it means that everything you believed in before will crumble. Because if we are being lied to like that today, then the rest was also lies. There is a confrontation with reality which is almost impossible.

A police state

It is especially young people who publicly show their opposition to the war, notes Vera Ageeva.

I continue to give distance courses in Russia, I speak with the students and the vast majority of them are against the war, she says. They tell me that the dialogue with their parents is disastrous. The parents repeat the TV propaganda word for word. For the young people, it is tragic because they love them, but they cannot agree with their parents who support the war and who justify everything that the Putin regime does.

Anne Le Huérou also says that she heard very hard cases inside the families of people who almost deny their children or call them fifth column because they oppose the war.

However, she nuances, there are also many young people who adhere to the regime’s propaganda. I have a colleague who taught at the University in Saint Petersburg, and she told me that she had to take tranquilizers after class so [l’ambiance était difficile avec] students convinced by propaganda.

” It’s not just a story of old versus young, working class versus elite. »

What is clear is that an oppressive climate is setting in. Following President Vladimir Putin’s televised speech on March 16 denouncing a fifth column of national traitors and claiming a self-purification of society, the cases of denunciation are multiplying.

Western media report several cases of teachers denounced by their students for expressing their disagreement with the war.

I have friends at university who know that they should no longer speak to their colleagues, who are almost all for the war, specifies Anne Le Huérou. They may not rush to report them, but if one day they have a problem, they will not hesitate to do so to save their own skins.

Vera Ageeva recounts having heard cases of people denounced by their office colleagues for their opposition to the war or of parents of pupils denounced by other parents or teachers for opposing the posting of the letter. Z, symbol of support for the Russian army, at school.

It’s a Soviet reflex, she adds. The government sees that there is a movement in society against the war and it tries to control it. But since the police cannot control every word of every person, if people report each other, it helps the government.

” Putin built a police state. You can’t express yourself, it’s a danger to your life. »

Vera Ageeva has little hope of seeing things change in her country. On the one hand, the mass of Russians is not really affected by the conflict, on the other hand, Vladimir Putin has locked the system well, she believes.

He knew how to convince the people that democracy was dangerous and unstable. So people are not going to revolt.