Russia Censors News Reports About Anti-Putin Ice Graffiti, Leaving Its Contents Entirely Up To Our Collective Imagination
from the putin-on-a-show dept
Readers here will be familiar with the Streisand Effect, by which a topic or information becomes wildly viral due to the very attempts at censoring it. The idea is that by trying to keep Subject X out of the news, the public suddenly is far more exposed to Subject X as a result of news coverage of the cover-up. This story slightly deviates from the Streisand Effect formula, but only in the most hilarious way.
People should know by now that Vladimir Putin is a strong-arm "President" that runs the country like a fiefdom. As such, most if not all wings of his government serve him personally far more directly than they do his constituents. Evidence of this is practically everywhere, especially in how his government and non-government organizations in Russia react to his political opponents. Typically, his political rivals are jailed, silenced, or otherwise tamped down viciously in terms of how much exposure they can get to challenge his political position. A recent example of this concerns presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak, whose supporters painted the ice on a frozen river in St. Petersburg with the mildest anti-Putin slogan, reading "Against Putin." As a result, Roskomnadzor, the government agency featured in our pages for its censorship of websites in the name of literally anything it can dream up, ordered news groups to censor the contents of the message-on-ice in any reporting on the incident.
On Monday, the St. Petersburg-based Business News Agency said it was ordered by a local branch of the state media watchdog Roskomnadzor to remove the photograph of the graffiti from the river.
“We can’t display the protesters’ slogan at the urgent request of Roskomnadzor,” the agency wrote in a text superimposed on the graffiti while keeping the photo of the frozen Fontanka River intact, as seen in a picture tweeted by local activists.
And here's what the images accompanying the news reports now show.
Роскомнадзор требует от «Агентства бизнес новостей» удалить с сайта фотографию акции штаба Собчак. Ребята написали на реке Фонтанке лозунг «Против Путина». В связи с этим хотелось бы напомнить:
Мы против Путина. pic.twitter.com/UiJHN8PK1M
— Штаб Навального в Петербурге (@teamnavalny_spb) March 5, 2018
Here's the thing: the reader is now free to imagine any and all anti-Putin messages scrawled in the ice now that the mild "Against Putin" message has been covered up. In addition to the classic Streisand Effect of the public now being way more aware than they would have been otherwise of the general anti-Putin sentiment that exists with these supporters of Sobchak, creative minds across Russia will fill in the censorious blank as to what the message was. Perhaps it read: "Putin impregnated my cow and smells of last week's borscht"? Perhaps it was just a string of the names of journalists that keep mysteriously dying after criticizing Putin or his government?
The beautiful part is: we don't know! And this censorship has freed us to imagine anything and everything that could possibly be contained in that message. And, if this writer is any indication, our imaginations can come up with far more insulting messages than "Against Putin."
And, in case the hints here weren't strong enough, I very much encourage you to prove me right in the comments section. Regardless, it's long past time that world leaders learned that these censorship attempts do and will always backfire.
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Filed Under: censorship, russia, streisand effect, vladimir putin
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... the Aristocrats!
Clearly 'Against Putin' was only part of the message, the rest having been worn away and covered up by snow. The full message would have tripped every profanity filter in existence, even to the point that computers that didn't have such a system would spontaneously install one just to block it.
In an attempt to avoid a total blackout a partial excerpt of the message will be provided that includes the relevant words.
'... When [CENSORED]'s body slams Against Putin then [CENSORED], and you better believe the russian ice will melt when [CENSORED] starts happening, because when it comes to [CENSORED] ain't nobody 'Putin' it out more than him!...'
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Don't exercise your imagination, kids! GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND.
No longer do you 'shrooms have to grope in the dark. Here's FACTS from major sources:
How to understand Putin's jaw-droppingly high approval ratings [83 percent! May 2016]... https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/how-to-understand-putins-jaw-droppingly-high-ap proval-ratings/2016/03/05/17f5d8f2-d5ba-11e5-a65b-587e721fb231_story.html
Vladimir Putin: 87 Percent [Jun 2017] of Russians Back Leader on Global ... https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/vladimir-putin-87-percent-russians-approve-leader-n774571
As measured by the Levada Center, an independent pollster, Putin's approval rating has not fallen below 80% since March 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/08/dubious-polls-media-vladimir-putin-ele ction-popularity-propaganda
Maybe it's plunged since December. OR more likely, Geigner reads only what fits his propaganda bubble, direct from MSM, that Russia is seething under a tyrant.
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Uhh...
So, just out of curiosity, did you actually read that third article you linked to, or was 'Putin has high popularity in the polls' as far as you got?
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Reading helps too
... or the first or second? In fact did you read any of those before you linked to them, because they don't seem to present as rosy a picture as you seem to be pushing.
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Re: Don't exercise your imagination, kids! GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND.
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Re: Reading helps too
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Re: Don't exercise your imagination, kids! GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND.
I think there is a difference between Roskomnadzors very real overstepping of boundary to dubious approval ratings for a man whose principal opponents are veritably insane right-wing guys, insane left-wing guys and a reality star. Go, Paris Hilton, you can do it!
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But the collateral damage from those censorship attempts can be very grim indeed.
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Re: Don't exercise your imagination, kids! GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND.
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Re: Re: Don't exercise your imagination, kids! GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND.
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Poutine est mauvais pour vos arteres.
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Re: Don't exercise your imagination, kids! GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND.
You're slipping, blue boy.
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Re: Poutine est mauvais pour vos arteres.
So… Putin is bad for your arteries…? Context, please.
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Dreaming
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Re: Re: Poutine est mauvais pour vos arteres.
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Re: Don't exercise your imagination, kids! GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND.
I gave it a funny vote...
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Re: Re: Re: Poutine est mauvais pour vos arteres.
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Re: Reading helps too
because they don't seem to present as rosy a picture as you seem to be pushing.
But neither do they present the picture that you are pushing.
I visitied Russia in 1995 - pre-Putin - and again in 2013. The difference was obvious and most Russians believe that it was Putin who worked the change. You don't lose that kind of reputation overnight, Also, please bear in mind that most people don't pay as much attention to politics as you do and have a very inaccurate view of it.
The fact is that life in Russia today is still much freer for most people than it was in the Soviet era and much more prosperous than it was in the Yeltsin era.
The anti-Putin people are frankly an irrelevant fringe in Russia- no matter how much western politicians and media try to push them.
Putin's party dominates Russia in a similar way to the way the ANC dominates South Africa. Putin is no Nelson Mandela - but he isn't Jacob Zuma either.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Poutine est mauvais pour vos arteres.
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Re: Re: Reading helps too
First of all, those articles don’t actually dispute what you think they do. Guess who else had high approval ratings? The leaders of Soviet Russia. That’s what happens when you try to imprison and/or kill anyone who opposes you; most of the people left are probably either loyal or going to claim that they are out of fear.
Am I saying that Putin is necessarily unpopular? No. Am I saying that Putin’s Russia is just as bad as Soviet Russia? Again, not necessarily. What I’m saying is that, under the current conditions, it is impossible for anyone, whether they live in Russia, have been there, or not, to know for sure either way.
Also, “freer than Soviet Russia”? That’s like saying “more pleasant than waterboarding”. That’s a really low bar you’re setting. And that’s also a pretty key factor here: if someone has grown up under absolutely horrible conditions, any even slight change for the better is practically a godsend for them. Similarly, if, as you say, Russia is freer than the Soviet Union, even if it’s a small improvement, that’s going to lead to higher approval just because of people who think things like “at least he’s better than Stalin”.
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Pootin
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Ideas for what it could be
Putin greatest leader of mallrat gang
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