Russia: one to watch

A few developments out of Russia in the past week are raising red flags for freedom of expression on the Internet. Like the rest of the world, Russia is facing a worsening financial crisis, coupled with the devaluation of its currency. In an article about the general economic downturn in the Telegraph UK, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes that “Russia is battening down the hatches for a deep slump…Expecting trouble, the Kremlin has mobilised the police to crush dissent.” He quotes President Dmitry Medvedev as saying “If anyone tries to exploit the financial crisis, the authorities should bring criminal charges. We don’t want a return to the 1990s when everything was seething.”

Russia is not known for its tolerance of dissent in any form, but the Internet has been an avenue for the expression of criticism of the government that has avoided the heavy scrutiny to which print and television media are subject. Unlike Putin, Medvedev is a noted Internet enthusiast (he started broadcasting his own podcast in October). And there is evidence that the government is looking to expand its control over the Internet under a regulatory framework that would tighten control over Internet activity through limitations on foreign investment in Russian websites, requirements for registration of websites with the government, and increased scrutiny of blogs. In March, Russian courts heard the first case brought against a blogger for “inciting hatred” in a posting criticizing the police.

This week, activists have used the Internet to rally support for the release of Svetlana Bakhmina, a pregnant lawyer serving a six-year jail sentence for her involvement in an embezzlement scandal involving former oil magnate Mikhail Khordorkovsky. The cause has garnered almost 80,000 signatures on an Internet-based petition to President Medvedev demanding her release.

Russia is clearly a country to watch, particularly as U.S.-based Internet companies look to it as a lucrative opportunity for growth. I don’t know if there’s reason to hope that the worsening economic climate won’t lead to increased censorship on the Internet, but we should keep a close eye on the government’s response to the Bakhmina petition and other signs of change in the regulation of the Internet.