Freedom of Expression in Russia's New Mediasphere
BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies Series

In recent years, the Russian government has dramatically expanded its restrictions on the internet, while simultaneously consolidating its grip on traditional media. The internet, however, because of its transnational configuration, continues to evade comprehensive state control and offers ever new opportunities for disseminating and consuming dissenting opinions. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines, including media law, human rights, political science, media and cultural studies, and the study of religion, this book examines the current state of the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and media freedom in Russia, focusing on digital media and cross-media initiatives that bridge traditional and new media spheres. It assesses how the conditions for free speech are influenced by the dynamic development of Russian media, including the expansion of digital technologies, explores the interaction and transfer of practices, formats, stylistics and aesthetics between independent and state-owned media, and discusses how far traditional media co-opt strategies developed by and associated with independent media to mask their lack of free expression. Overall, the book provides a deep and rich understanding of the changing structures and practices of national and transnational Russian media and how they condition the boundaries of freedom of expression in Russia today.

Preface

Notes on contributors

Introduction: freedom of expression in Russia’s new mediasphere

MARIËLLE WIJERMARS AND KATJA LEHTISAARI

PART I

Frameworks for freedom of expression in Russia’s new media

1 The occupation of Runet? The tightening state regulation of the Russian-language section of the internet

MARKKU LONKILA, LARISA SHPAKOVSKAYA AND PHILIP TORCHINSKY

2 The blacklisting mechanism: new-school regulation of online expression and its technological challenges

LIUDMILA SIVETC

3 Formation of media policy in Russia: the case of the Iarovaia law

KATJA LEHTISAARI

PART II

Reinventing media formats, platforms and networks

4 The networked architecture of media freedom in contemporary Russia: the case of urban online magazines

SAARA RATILAINEN

5 Transmedia storytelling as an opportunity for re-inventing Russian federal television

EKATERINA LAPINA-KRATASYUK

6 Authenticity and affect in historical reenactments of the Russian Revolution on social media

DMITRY YAGODIN

PART III

New media and fragmented audiences

7 Challenging the ‘information war’ paradigm: Russophones and Russophobes in online Eurovision communities

VITALY KAZAKOV AND STEPHEN HUTCHINGS

8 Reconsidering media-centrism: Latvia’s Russian-speaking audiences in light of the Russia–Ukraine conflict

MĀRTI ŅŠ KAPRĀNS AND JĀNIS JUZEFOVIČS

9 Sputnik i Pogrom: Russia’s oppositional nationalism and alternative right

JUSSI LASSILA

PART IV

Tactics of control and subversion

10 Imprisoned for a ‘like’: the criminal prosecution of social media users under authoritarianism

FREEK VAN DER VET

11 State propaganda and popular culture in the Russian-speaking internet

VERA ZVEREVA

12 Freedom of expression and the Russian Orthodox Church

HANNA STAEHLE

Conclusion

KATJA LEHTISAARI AND MARIËLLE WIJERMARS

Index

Mariëlle Wijermars is a researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Katja Lehtisaari is a university lecturer at Media and Communication Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland.