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

Posted by msmash on from the umm-okay dept.

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.

3 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. 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.

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    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: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.

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    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"