Monday, August 3, 2015

Close the Internet, there is blowing – Radio Liberty

58 percent of Russian Internet users under certain conditions would support blocking of Internet communications state. For situations where the shutdown of the Internet might be acceptable, they are often referred to as “a threat to national security” and “mass rallies and riots.” These data VTsIOM poll, which is based on the recently published report of the Center for the Study of global communications, triggered strong reactions in Russia.

Here are some other data presented in the report. Internet censorship support 49% of respondents. Among these “control”, in particular, foreign media (45%), “other foreign websites” (38%), porn sites, including homosexual content (59%). As many as 45% of respondents would ban video clips of Pussy Riot, 24% believe that the Internet threatens the political stability in Russia. Characteristically, the less respondents use the Internet, the more severe their views on this kind of communication: those who are on the Internet does not appear or appear very rarely, most of them (57%) supported censorship among regular users of those about 43%. At the same time 42% of regular Internet users believe that network outages, there can be no reason.

As many as 45% of respondents would ban video clips of Pussy Riot

A Comment on this data RL asked Internet analyst, a popular blogger in the past – the manager of a number of major online projects Anton Nozzle .

– These poll was causing some confusion. On the one hand, 58% of users under certain conditions would support the government if it is off the Internet to some emergency. On the other hand, on average, 53% believe that the Internet has had a positive impact on society. It’s kind of easy schizophrenia, or the data themselves are questionable?

– Just VTsIOM – an organization that everything she knows, she studied in the last millennium. And methodologies that have been adopted in sociology last millennium, continues to use the VTsIOM in 2015 to measure these matters, which in the past were unable to measure the millennium. This story is very old. This is a story about the trade reputation. In VTsIOM has inflated cheeks, saying that we have certified methodology proven for centuries, sanctified by tradition. We are tough, solid, we listen to the Kremlin. This is what he says VTsIOM. What do I say? Russia has almost completely died off home phone lines. At 143 million people have to 200 million active mobile contracts. People in Russia do not answer the phone at home during working hours. And it was then and it is for land lines occur opinion polls. He interrogates 1600 losers, who have a telephone at home, and they to him during working hours fit. He interrogates them and outputs for this sample is representative of the Russian Federation. That’s pretty funny. In Russia, more than 80 million Internet users. VTsIOM not ever been able to find in their sample a share. Sorry if we still remember, how many Russian children do not fall on the monitor, then somewhere around 70% of the population use the Internet.

– That is, 42% of regular Internet users in Russia – this a figure cited by VTsIOM wrong, do you think?

VTsIOM predicted in Moscow, Navalny in the mayoral election of 6 per cent, that is wrong almost 5 times

– This way he describes his own sample. And she has developed from people who still have not forgotten his home phone number. VTsIOM, thanks to outdated technology morally binding poll to fixed land telephone lines, doomed to non-representative sample. He sells the sample to the right and left. We remember what VTsIOM predicted Navalny on elections of the mayor of Moscow 6 percent of the vote, that is wrong in almost 5 times.

– And what is the reality, in your opinion? What is the real attitude of the Russians, who know what the Internet is, the possibility of censorship and limited government interference in the Internet?

– The reality is very simple. In Russia there is no law, adopted under pressure from below. Citizens, due to the peculiarities of the local political system, completely excluded from the decision-making about which laws will take power. The Russians have no experience of initiating legislative initiatives. Or rather have, but these people about 20 people, and they all sit on the Old Square in Moscow, the presidential administration, and transmits its own initiative for the approval of Duma members, of which 450 people. The rest of the Russians about that, what laws are necessary and which do not need, do not think almost anything! With the same success could be to interview them about the fact whether the planet Mars is red, or she would go over the green. These are issues on which Russians absolutely do not think they have the burden of these heavy thoughts have long selected power.

– But the question “Do you want you off the Internet, or not?” – All -taki any person able to answer. This is a very simple question.

The only stratum of people who lobbies Internet censorship in Russia for about 20 years – are officials with a dark past

– Today, I was live Russian news service. This pro-Kremlin radio station, where I was asked about the same issue VTsIOMovsky. After we talked, they conducted a poll of its listeners on this topic. I repeat, this is station statist, “Sovereign” and so on. And their students – 66% – voted “hands off the Internet.” And so it checked VTsIOMovskie data. They are in their own best listeners, among which is, of course, and grandmothers who have nothing more to do, as the government listen to the radio during the day on Monday, it is checked. Man uses the Internet, and he did not wonder what the police came and forbade him to use.

The only layer of people, which is lobbying for Internet censorship in Russia for about 20 years – are officials with a dark past, who want to that information about the scandals, frauds and convictions with their participation was not publicly available. That’s it there occurs the greatest number of initiatives to ban the Internet. I’m not just talking about the recent “law of forgetting” – it has some icing on the cake. But initiatives to limit the free flow of information on the Internet first appeared almost Yuri Luzhkov, 12 years ago. It is because he did not like what they write about him. That’s where the wind blows, where all the talk about Internet restrictions. First of all it concerns our Russian legislators, of whom there are a lot of things written, and they do not know how to erase. They occurred to me that it would be possible for the “proletariat” Internet ban, only to leave it in the closed valve, where they themselves would have to use it, so that the public will never know what their apartments, which they testify, what their income that they have there in Miami, in which London boarding school their children attend, and so on. d. And those 80 million who every day go to the Internet to communicate with their friends, read e-mail, view photos of cats or order ticket cinema, they do not think about the censorship of the Internet. Not that they think – that they introduced it, or think – God forbid, it will introduce. They generally do not think about: they come and enjoy. As people sit in the bus they do not think what would happen if the bus tomorrow forbid – says Internet analyst at Anton Spout .

From a sociological point of view, the debate around that, possible and whether Internet censorship, fit into a broader context – the ambiguous attitude of Russians to civil liberties as such. Not so long ago, “Levada-center” conducted a survey according to which 42% of Russians said they would, in particular, to abandon the freedom of speech and freedom to travel abroad, if the state guarantees them a decent level of wages and pensions. For more on this topic, we talked with the director of the department of social and cultural studies, “Levada Center” Alexei Levinson :

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Alexei Levinson

– The Russian society really consists of two clearly distinct parts. One – and this is more than half of the citizens – is closely linked to the state or the employer, or to those who pay their pensions, that is, is their only source of livelihood. The mentality of these people can be partly compared to a fortress mentality. Of course, no one enslaves, they are free in their actions, but in its present state, they depend on the state-overlord all over, including psychologically. So when they offer the freedom for them it looks like an unnecessary temptation. We are dealing with a very large part of the Russian people, which has no experience of independent existence, because it depends on the majority of its vital parameters from the state. Their autonomy extends to the private sphere: they say, has its own garden, and they decide what to do with the harvest, some family matters, etc. In the public sphere, they almost did not come, and if they appear there, then took just such a position dependent people.

We are dealing with a large part of the Russian people, which has no experience of independent existence

And there’s the other part society – those who grew up in the belief that people should be based primarily on himself that he should not expect anything from anybody. This individualism seem surprising, but it is widespread. However, according to our observations, and these people are not sure that is good to live in such an individualist. They understand that we have to live like this, but they remain the ideal of collectivist-statist, too – they just understand that he was unreachable. That’s what people need freedom to travel, freedom of speech, freedom to participate in any commercial transactions and stuff.

– This situation is preserved, or is there some kind of dynamics – for instance, the share of the second of these you group up or down?

– There were different trends. This share grew in the 1990s and early 2000s, and now it is stagnating or decreasing. It is known that the proportion of entrepreneurs in the so-called middle class, we are not increasing or decreasing in recent years. The middle class in Russia is replenished more people from that category, I described the first – the one who is in government service. They’re on their income and household habits (which go to rest, in which schools give children, etc.) are close to entrepreneurs. But they have a different mentality.

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