Newspaper circumvents Russian censorship with “Counter-Strike”

The Finnish newspaper “Helsingin Sanomat” uses the popular online game “Counter-Strike” to spread hidden information and reports about the war in Ukraine, thereby circumventing Russian censorship. Within Counter-Strike, players can create custom maps that can be downloaded and used by others. So they developed a Slavic town called Wojna (Voyna), which means "war" in Russian, according to Antero Mukka, the newspaper's editor-in-chief.

In the basement of a building in the city, the programmers of Helsingin Sanomat hid a room where players can discover reports written in Russian by the newspaper's war reporters in Ukraine. The walls of this digital space have been decorated with articles and photos documenting events such as the massacres in the Ukrainian cities of Bucha and Irpin. According to Mukka, this is “ information that is not accessible in the Russian state propaganda apparatus . In Russia, about four million people are active players of the strategic multiplayer first-person shooter.

The newspaper created a hidden room within Counter-Strike

How is information conveyed about the video game?
A brief explanation of Counter-Strike: In the first-person shooter, players move around a digital map and work in two teams to complete tasks such as defusing bombs and freeing hostages, with the focus being on digital gun battles. The digital playing fields, also known as “maps”, form the scenario in which the gamers move. A central aspect of the large Counter-Strike community is that players can also develop their own maps to guide other gamers through the digital environment.

Mukka told the AFP news agency: "While 'Helsingin Sanomat' and other foreign independent media are blocked in Russia, online games are not banned for the time being .

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On May 3, 2023, on Press Freedom Day, the map was published under the name “de_voyna”. ( LINK ) There is a hidden room in this map that provides information about the war in Ukraine. Players can discover reports of the Russian massacre in Bucha, the deaths of over 70,000 Russian soldiers, as well as numerous photos and even audio files.

Since its release, the map has been downloaded over two thousand times. The Editor-in-Chief emphasizes that this illustrates how any efforts to block the exchange of information and deceive the public will result in failure in our world today.

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Sources:

• Helsingin Sanomat
• Reuters

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