1st Edition

Freedom of Expression in Russia's New Mediasphere

Edited By Mariëlle Wijermars, Katja Lehtisaari Copyright 2020
    296 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    294 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    In recent years, the Russian government has dramatically expanded its restrictions on the internet, while simultaneously consolidating its grip on traditional media. The internet, however, because of its transnational configuration, continues to evade comprehensive state control and offers ever new opportunities for disseminating and consuming dissenting opinions. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines, including media law, human rights, political science, media and cultural studies, and the study of religion, this book examines the current state of the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and media freedom in Russia, focusing on digital media and cross-media initiatives that bridge traditional and new media spheres. It assesses how the conditions for free speech are influenced by the dynamic development of Russian media, including the expansion of digital technologies, explores the interaction and transfer of practices, formats, stylistics and aesthetics between independent and state-owned media, and discusses how far traditional media co-opt strategies developed by and associated with independent media to mask their lack of free expression. Overall, the book provides a deep and rich understanding of the changing structures and practices of national and transnational Russian media and how they condition the boundaries of freedom of expression in Russia today.



    Preface



    Notes on contributors



    Introduction: freedom of expression in Russia’s new mediasphere



    MARIËLLE WIJERMARS AND KATJA LEHTISAARI



    PART I



    Frameworks for freedom of expression in Russia’s new media



    1 The occupation of Runet? The tightening state regulation of the Russian-language section of the internet



    MARKKU LONKILA, LARISA SHPAKOVSKAYA AND PHILIP TORCHINSKY



    2 The blacklisting mechanism: new-school regulation of online expression and its technological challenges



    LIUDMILA SIVETC



    3 Formation of media policy in Russia: the case of the Iarovaia law



    KATJA LEHTISAARI



    PART II



    Reinventing media formats, platforms and networks



    4 The networked architecture of media freedom in contemporary Russia: the case of urban online magazines



    SAARA RATILAINEN



    5 Transmedia storytelling as an opportunity for re-inventing Russian federal television



    EKATERINA LAPINA-KRATASYUK



    6 Authenticity and affect in historical reenactments of the Russian Revolution on social media



    DMITRY YAGODIN



    PART III



    New media and fragmented audiences



    7 Challenging the ‘information war’ paradigm: Russophones and Russophobes in online Eurovision communities



    VITALY KAZAKOV AND STEPHEN HUTCHINGS



    8 Reconsidering media-centrism: Latvia’s Russian-speaking audiences in light of the Russia–Ukraine conflict



    MĀRTI ŅŠ KAPRĀNS AND JĀNIS JUZEFOVIČS



    9 Sputnik i Pogrom: Russia’s oppositional nationalism and alternative right



    JUSSI LASSILA



    PART IV



    Tactics of control and subversion



    10 Imprisoned for a ‘like’: the criminal prosecution of social media users under authoritarianism



    FREEK VAN DER VET



    11 State propaganda and popular culture in the Russian-speaking internet



    VERA ZVEREVA



    12 Freedom of expression and the Russian Orthodox Church



    HANNA STAEHLE



    Conclusion



    KATJA LEHTISAARI AND MARIËLLE WIJERMARS



    Index

    Biography

    Mariëlle Wijermars is a researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland.



    Katja Lehtisaari is a university lecturer at Media and Communication Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland.

    A comprehensive collection that approaches the issue of freedom of expression in the new media in Russia, as well as attempts to curb it, from multiple angles. Such an approach illuminates the multifaceted nature of the Russian media studies regime, which cannot be reduced to simple state-controlled censorship" - Olena Nedozhogina, in Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society