Roskomnadzor, the federal agency in Russia (Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Information Technology and Mass Communications), is calling on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia to delete all information about the invasion that " misinforms " the Russians. As is well known, Russia calls the war of aggression against Ukraine as a “ special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine ”.
According to censorship laws, it is a crime in Russia to call the Russian invasion of Ukraine a " war " or " invasion " or to provide information that could "discredit" the Russian military. The Russian Wikipedia community reported via Telegram that Roskomnadzor was bothered by the fact that Wikipedia spoke numerous victims among the military of the Russian Federation and the civilian population of Ukraine, including children which “does not agree with the statements made by the Defense Ministry.” Official data published by the Russian Federation corresponds. ( Source )
Weeks of pressure
At the beginning of March, the Russian government had already asked the Wikimedia Foundation to censor Wikipedia articles about the Ukraine war.
Information about civilian deaths or losses in the Russian military should be deleted. In addition, people are generally disturbed by the use of the term war to describe Russia's attack on Ukraine. As the Standard reported, Russia wanted to block the pages in question if they were not removed and the Russian representation was adopted. Wikimedia responded, as the article states:
Wikipedia is an important source of reliable, factually correct information, especially in crisis situations. In this respect, one cannot give in to such attempts at intimidation under any circumstances.
Standard.at
In mid-March it became known that Wikipedia author Mark Bernstein had been arrested in Belarus. He was accused of “distributing false anti-Russian information.” Authors who write for the Russian Wikipedia have been asked to stop using their user accounts when editing articles and instead only make the edits anonymously. At that time, Roskomnadzor had already threatened to block the Russian Wikipedia completely.
Wikimedia also reinforced the point of view at the time:
“Withholding reliable information from people in times of crisis can have consequences that affect your own life. The volunteers who maintain Russian Wikipedia defend the right to continue their work and provide the population with reliable information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
futurezone
No unlimited data volume
The supply of news could now become even more difficult in Russia. The responsible ministry says that it is necessary to ensure an even load on the infrastructure. “Given the lack of equipment under the sanctions, operators may have objective difficulties in maintaining the pace of network development.” Therefore, according to the authority's proposal, there should no longer be contracts with unlimited data volumes . Some network operators interviewed by the TASS news agency confirmed these concerns about a lack of spare parts. ( Source )
There are also penalties for YouTube videos
The US business magazine Forbes reports that the Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor also threatened Google with fines of up to 8 million rubles (around 90,000 euros) and, in the event of a repeat offense, 20% of its annual turnover in Russia because certain YouTube videos were not deleted. According to the Russian government, these videos “discredit” the Russian army. It also says YouTube hosts “extremist” content that calls for “violent actions against Russian soldiers.” ( Source ) ( Source ).
YouTube is the last major American social media platform to maintain service in Russia after the Russian government blocked access to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter following the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
According to Forbes report, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta will also be closed after several warnings from Roskomnadzor. It is considered one of the few remaining independent media in Russia.
Forbes , BR.de , futurezone.at , t3n.de , Standard.at
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

