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Russia's Putin Calls For Web Activities of Some Firms To Be Monitored (reuters.com)

President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the Russian authorities should monitor the activity of "some companies" on social media during next year's presidential election and assess the extent of their involvement in domestic politics. From a report: He did not name the companies or say if he was concerned about the activities of foreign or local firms, but Russia has been accused by the United States and other Western nations of meddling in their elections. "We need to look carefully at how some companies work in internet, in social media, and how widely they are involved in our domestic political life," Putin said, speaking at a meeting with leaders in Russia's parliament about a new "foreign agents" law.

57 comments

  1. Pot calling the kettle black by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Need I say more?

    1. Re: Pot calling the kettle black by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why so racist?

    2. Re:Pot calling the kettle black by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      The kettle prefers "Kitchenware-American."

    3. Re: Pot calling the kettle black by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think they made a word for it. Hypocrite? Yeaaaaaa that's the word I'm looking for.

    4. Re:Pot calling the kettle black by Lisandro · · Score: 2

      C'mon, you have to appreciate it. He's the ultimate troll.

    5. Re:Pot calling the kettle black by Xyrus · · Score: 1

      Trump: "Putin is a smart man. We should do the same for fake news CNN and failing NY Times. #MAGA"

      I expect a tweet like this if Trump's attention span lasts and he can slip by his handlers.

      --
      ~X~
    6. Re:Pot calling the kettle black by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Trump: "Putin is a smart man. We should do the same and take a steaming dump all over Freedom of the Press because CNN and NY Times say things I don't like"

      That's about how that would translate if (when?) he's stupid enough to say something like that. Flies right in the face of one of the foundation blocks the United States was founded on. Trump reveals himself as more and more un-American and despotic every week.

  2. Well that's shocking.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Russia's Putin, versus all those other Putins running around.....

    And one, why is this news on Slashdot, and two, why is this news at all?

    Crap that matters, yeah we get it, but that includes anything and everything.

    Besides, Russia censors or blocks or monitors pretty much something new every day. Why is this special enough to "matter"?

    Ho hum. It's Christmas. Post anything to make it seem like Slashdot is chugging along.

    1. Re:Well that's shocking.... by AHuxley · · Score: 3, Informative

      AC Re "And one, why is this news on Slashdot, and two, why is this news at all?"

      The USA is giving away stories for free that are pro USA and against Russia every day.
      The "Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act"
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
      All that fictional US gov/mil/NATO created propaganda ends up on domestic US publications as "news" everyday.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  3. Re: Leave it to a criminal expert.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Plenty of innocent people know criminal mentality. I'm fairly well versed in social engineering techniques and the types of scams that get run online and in real life, just from reading and study, yet I habe never engaged in any.

    That said, Putin is head criminal in Russia, so... Yeah.

  4. LOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What an arrogant prick.

  5. What he really said (full quote) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Here's the full sentence and a bit of context:

    "In no circumstances must freedom in Internet be diminished, but a careful look is needed at how certain compalies work online, in social networks, how they are involved in our domestic politics. We need to analyse carefully, how they will behave during our elections. Do you remember the song and dance about the air time RT and Sputnik had in the US? There was a lot of noise, but it turned out to be on the order of 1/100's of 1 percent. And how much are their media getting here? I'm not saying we need to make quick decisions. Now is not the time for this, not before elections. We need to look at it, to analyse it, and make the decision when we have a clear view." He also did not exclude no special decisions will be necessary.

    Source (Russian business newspaper): https://www.vedomosti.ru/polit...

  6. Putin remembers 1996 by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 4, Informative

    Who else here remembers the 1996 Russian elections? I do. Putin does. Everyone in Russia does. How is it that Americans don't remember? Here's a quick refresher, from Time magazine:

    The outcome was by no means inevitable. Last winter Yeltsin's approval ratings were in the single digits. There are many reasons for his change in fortune, but a crucial one has remained a secret. For four months, a group of American political consultants clandestinely participated in guiding Yeltsin's campaign.

    Time was so proud of getting that drunk Yeltsin elected that it ran its cover bragging about how we interfered in the Russian election. Yep. This happened.

    Yeltsin sent troops into a quagmire in Chechnya, his economic reform programs resulted in widespread poverty and misery, and he had little respect for the law. He was a bad choice for Russia. He colluded with a hostile foreign power to get elected, something Americans have forgotten but Russians never will.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    1. Re:Putin remembers 1996 by guacamole · · Score: 1, Informative

      And the funny thing is Putin, who according to western sources is some kind of authoritarian anti-American devil incarnate, was basically appointed by allegedly pro-western "reformer" Yeltsin. Most Russians don't recall Yeltsin's name without cussing.

    2. Re:Putin remembers 1996 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cool. FUCK RUSSIA ANYWAY. They have done more than destabilize the west. They have destabilized the world. Putin belongs BEATEN TO A BLOODY FUCKING PULP BEHIND BARS, with the criminals who put him in power piled in the corner.

    3. Re:Putin remembers 1996 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cool. FUCK USA ANYWAY. They have done more than destabilize the west. They have destabilized the world. Clinton, Bush and Obama belong BEATEN TO A BLOODY FUCKING PULP BEHIND BARS, with the criminals who put them in power piled in the corner.

    4. Re:Putin remembers 1996 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      False Equivalency. Do you work for CNN? Doesn't matter. No one will see either of these comments or give a fuck. Fuck Trump and all his supporters. Dumb fucking idiots who will crash the USA. Fuck Putin. He will drive Russia into the ground to enrich his cronies and Russians are too fucking jaded or weak to depose him. This world is in deep shit unless someone fixes it.

    5. Re:Putin remembers 1996 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the 90s, Yeltsin and his western economic advisors marched the Russian state to the brink of collapse. It was on the verge of becoming a failed state.

      Putin may be a thug, but he brought the Russian economy back from the brink. Although he was only able to do this because he was strong arming everyone in doing what he told them to do (or else), it is a feat that no other current western member political elite would have been able to do.

      If you're on a sinking ship, you need a single captain to organise the rescue; not a committee of self-serving, short term thinking elites, who instead of plugging the hole in the hull, will grab everything that's not bolted down and head for the life boats without telling anyone else that the ship is going down.

      If you're a USian, you're on the sinking ship with the committee BTW.

  7. Who else's Putin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Who else's Putin?

    Gotta get that R-ssia keyword in there somewhere though!

  8. Sounds Like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    DAMHER: "That Bundy guy looks kinda shady."

    1. Re: Sounds Like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Al Bundy: Hey pal, at Polk High I scored 4 touchdowns in a single game. Caught the game winning catch in 1966. What have you done?

  9. Ha Ha by no-body · · Score: 0

    Seems he is talking out of experience, just from the other end what can be done....

  10. Let us smash the negative elements. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As patriotic American all I can say is Putin glorious and wise leader and we should cut him much slack.

    The lies of obama devil are now gone and I proud to have great friend with Russia, same as benevolent President Trump, for great benefit of our two countries.

    I urge all fellow proud American citizens, of which I am one, to show support and zeal for great President Trump.

    1. Re: Let us smash the negative elements. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why did I read this with a thick Russian accent?

    2. Re: Let us smash the negative elements. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because it sounds a lot like sarcasm? Also the lack of definite and indefinite articles is one of the most recognizable features of east European languages? So if you want to make something sound Russian, just leave out most of the "the"s and "a"s.

  11. As opposed to America's Putin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You know... The guy who was put in power by Boris Yeltsin. Who himself was put in power by 300 million election funds by the USA, funnelled to him via the world bank. Versus 5 million for his competitor, whose hotel booking was always strangely cancelled by some "prankster", among other forms of permanent harassment. Something the CIA themselves openly admit nowadays.

    Aka: Yet another convenient scapegoat troll in the closet, that the US can take out, whenever things aren't going so great at home. Like Saddam, for example, until dumbass W. Bush emptied that closet.

    So if you think Putin got Trump into power ... ROFL.

    1. Re:As opposed to America's Putin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, I can see how you'd like to make this an USA vs Russia thing entirely. Besides of being a whataboutism, it doesn't even reflect reality but only focuses on a very specific perspective on Russia's involvement in foreign politics. Russian troll factories have not only been trolling the USA, but other countries like the UK, Germany or France. I wonder what kind of payback they deserve in your twisted moralistic views. Sure, the Germans did invade Russia some 80 years ago and therefore their children have inherited that crimes and must still be nazis today. What did the rest do to deserve this? Having relatively good relations with the USA?

    2. Re: As opposed to America's Putin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where do your talking points come from? Because these aren't US talking points.

    3. Re:As opposed to America's Putin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      nice whataboutism, comrade

      captcha: purely

  12. Everyone in the rest of Europe remembers too. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The leading German political comedy show "Die Anstalt" had a whole show dedicated to that topic.

    It wasn't Time. It was the CIA and 300 million dollars VS 5 million dollars and permanent harassment of the competitor. I guess that's the same thing in the US though. Media == TLAs = politicians == corporations.

    Buut of course, certain Americans here want to uphold their Stockholm syndrome reality distortion filter bubble ... similar to North Koreans .. and downvote you as "Troll".

    --------------------

    I compare Russians and Americans like this: Both their leaders are fucked-up. But at least the Russians have truly accepted it. That's why they drink. :)
    Goes with the culture. The US culture is all about fake smiling and putting up a front of minimal (human!) emotion and maximum "plastic fantastic" as we call it. The Russians are more upfront and pragmatic, with even the lowest (gopniks) seeing intelligence as a good thing. Also, frankly, a large difference is that Americans have become such insane pussies (emphasis on both words) in the last generations, that their ancestors must turn in their graves.

    I just wish they got better. Quickly. Be it through stepping on the brakes or through hitting a brick wall.

    1. Re: Everyone in the rest of Europe remembers too. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure. One party systems are awesome.

    2. Re:Everyone in the rest of Europe remembers too. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Russians are more upfront and pragmatic, with even the lowest (gopniks) seeing intelligence as a good thing.

      Sure thing comrade. That's probably why their favourite rhetoric also happens to be a fallacy - the whataboutism.

  13. McCarthyism is alive and well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because some people around here are shills for the military-industrial complex and want to promote anything to attack Russia and bury anything that is critical of the Russiagate narrative.

    Now, to be fair, the Russian government is evil. But so is the U.S. government. Why the obsession with resurrecting Joe McCarthy? Do you miss the Cold War and constant threat of nuclear holocaust? Do you want World War III?

    Yeah, okay, it is entirely fair and right to criticize Putin for this. Unfortunately, that is not the motive. The motive is bloodthirsty warmongering.

    1. Re: McCarthyism is alive and well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Whataboutism strikes again.

      What about this? What about that?

      The cold war never ended. It's a misnomer for the fight for hegemony that all world powers engage in. It still exists and will always exist and always has on various scales. Whatabouting won't change that. If you're not whatabouting Hillary you're whatabouting McCarthy you're whatabouting communism you're whatabouting nuclear etc.

    2. Re: McCarthyism is alive and well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whataboutism strikes again.

      What about this? What about that?

      The cold war never ended. It's a misnomer for the fight for hegemony that all world powers engage in. It still exists and will always exist and always has on various scales...

      That may be oversimplifying. That being said, we don't get to take a day off. Our vigilance must be constant. This tactic of suggesting watching out for strange unnamed enemies doing what they themselves do regularly is pretty much standard. Trump also makes excellent use of it. How many times has he accused an enemy of what he himself was guilty of? I've lost count.

      We need a plan to defend our infrastructure, and that includes social media from being influenced by hostile nation states and other groups. Sure Facebook and such are working on it around the edges, but I'm not convinced that is going to be adequate for the future battles. Instead of developing such a plan, our president says stuff like:

      "FBI’s Andrew McCabe, “in addition to his wife getting all of this money from M (Clinton Puppet), he was using, allegedly, his FBI Official Email Account to promote her campaign. You obviously cannot do this. These were the people who were investigating Hillary Clinton.”

      McCabe is from all accounts an excellent public servant. That his wife was apparently involved in politics does not change that. That Trump regularly attempts to destroy the FBI's credibility for the simple reason that they are involved in investigating him is a disgrace and something that should be worthy of impeachment in of itself (obstruction of justice). Americans need the FBI to do their job, and I have no doubt that they will, whether Mr. Trump likes it or not. Trump and his people will no doubt influence what gets done though, so where the FBI could be helping to prepare us for the next election, I rather suspect there efforts will be tepid at best, since the Commander in Chief says it is all fake news.

      Trump is doing his best to weaken all who might come after him, but what happens when those weakened organisations are tested?

      Perhaps the FBI will miss the next 9/11 instead of catching it? Perhaps the guy who could have been critical to catching it will retire rather than keep putting up with the crap? Actions have consequences. A government of sycophants is going to be a hell of a lot less competent than a government of experts.

    3. Re: McCarthyism is alive and well by reboot246 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      "McCabe is from all accounts an excellent public servant."

      That's the most hilarious thing I've read all day! And you said it in all seriousness. Wow! What flavor Kool-Aid are you drinking?

    4. Re: McCarthyism is alive and well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't even know who he is

    5. Re: McCarthyism is alive and well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you ever get bored having conversations with yourself?

    6. Re:McCarthyism is alive and well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice whataboutism you dumb vatnik fuck. Nobody's gobbling your bull-borscht up. No rubles for you.

    7. Re:McCarthyism is alive and well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not McCarthyism if the shoe fits.

  14. CIA hack pretending to be a Russian troll by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How is the weather in Langley this Christmas?

    1. Re: CIA hack pretending to be a Russian troll by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Don't reply to yourself?

  15. Not owner, ... handler. by Freischutz · · Score: 1

    AKA, Trump's owner

    In the intelligence community the person who runs an intelligence asset is called a 'handler' so technically, Putin is Trump's FSB handler which also explains James Clapper's recent comment on Trump for those who didn't get it, although Clapper probably meant it to be taken as sarcasm.

    1. Re:Not owner, ... handler. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      James Clapper is a joke

    2. Re:Not owner, ... handler. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong. Also, not an argument.

    3. Re:Not owner, ... handler. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clapper is a serial liar. If you need anyone to explain it to you then you haven't paid much attention. He lied under oath in front of congress about NSA surveillance. He was a loyal Bushie who claimed in 2003 that the Iraqi's "unquestionably" moved all their WMD's to Syria even though his own office admitted they didn't have any evidence for that statement. Now he pushes the Trump/Russia nonsense and people pretend he has credibility.

  16. Soooo.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    So Tzar Vladimir is getting a bit nervous is he? I rather expect the intelligence agencies of the US, German, UK, French, other countries who have been hit by Putin's little interference election campaigns to be itching to pay him back. We can presumably count the US out since Trump is such a Russophile but the German BND has proven adept at digging up people's dirty financial dealings in shady tax havens so one thing Putin should be very nervous about is well timed releases of even more Lichtenstein/Panama/Paradise type data leaks detailing the corrupt dealing of the Russian Elites of which there is no shortage.

    1. Re: Soooo.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mr Putin has just had the only opponent who stood a rat's chance of threatening him disqualified, why is he even worrying?

    2. Re: Soooo.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's not. But he has to put on a show of worrying to continue the ridiculous one-party charade, and as a side benefit he gets to pretend that it's Facebook, not the KGB, doing the tampering.

  17. Russia's Putin by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

    Who is this Putin?

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  18. Lightweight Russki Liberals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Theresa May comes gunning for lightweight liberals like Putin with their fancy trendy hippy ideals - demands everything UK citizens do online be monitored and that they accept UK state censors pre-approving their posts.

    http://www.mintpressnews.com/theresa-may-wants-new-internet-monitored-government/228154/

  19. Appeasement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know what you sound like? Do you know who you sound like?

    Neville Chamberlin, and all those supporters of Appeasement. "Germany was treated unfairly after World War I. Germany has legitimate grievances. Germany needs to expand, and take over Austria. And the Sudetenland. And Czechoslovakia, Poland, France, Hungary. Also Belgium, the Netherlands, well all of Europe really."

    Yeah, just ignore the Bear in the living room! Great policy, it will keep you safe. That's not warmongering, that's prudent foreign policy. Fact is, you wouldn't accept any evidence that Russia is a threat. You'd call it Fake News and close your eyes and sing hymns to lull yourself to sleep.