Anger rises amid internet crackdown

Hello! This week we highlight how as the authorities intensify their campaign against what’s left of a free internet inside Russia, opinion polls show public anger is rising.

Kremlin campaign against the internet pushes Putin’s approval rating to four-year low

This year has seen Russia’s authorities massively step up their battle against free online spaces and services. They switched off mobile internet in Moscow, blocked Telegram, Russia’s most popular messenger, and significantly complicated the use of VPNs. Opinion polls conducted by both independent and pro-government researchers all show a spike in public anger as a result. In most other systems, that might cause concern ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled in the fall. But in Russia, sociologists do not expect discontent to translate into significant political upheaval. Instead, they are talking about a general decline in popular sentiment, though one insufficient to undermine the established electoral autocracy.