March "For free Internet", July 2017, Moscow. Source: "Leviy blok" / Telegram.
December 2016 saw Russia adopt a new Information Security Doctrine. Signed off by President Putin, the 2016 document replaced the outdated ISD from 2000. The new doctrine places even greater emphasis on the technological capabilities of a “number of foreign countries” that can be utilised to “impact information infrastructure for military purposes” and, perhaps most importantly, “destabilise the domestic political and social situation” in different countries, ultimately undermining their sovereignty.
This focus on technological and digital sovereignty in an era of communication that is challenging traditional political geographies is a crucial feature of the modern Russian state. For several years now, ever since the protests of 2011 and Edward Snowden’s US surveillance leak of 2013, the Russian authorities have been feeling out the limits of an acceptable level of online control. And, unfortunately for ordinary users, they’re not about to stop doing so anytime soon.
