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8 reasons Russians aren’t in streets protesting Ukraine war [1]

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Date: 2023-06

2. Electronic tracking systems

Interviewees said it’s not that they can’t or don’t want to go out to protest, but they’re unlikely to even get there: they will be stopped on the way, recognised by cameras in the subway, phone operators will give information on their movements to the security forces, and so on. Even if they’re not stopped and arrested immediately, they face a high probability of delayed consequences. Video recordings and facial-recognition systems allow law enforcement to track down participants after the street action has ended.

The pandemic allowed the authorities to perfect the tracking and control of their citizens under the guise of fighting Covid – digital totalitarianism, in other words. They also increased the use of artificial intelligence and facial-recognition technology, further restricting the freedoms and rights of the population.

From the outside, it may seem that in the modern world, with the widespread use of social media and other ways to connect online, it’s simple and straightforward to organise a protest and encourage people to take to the streets. But not in Russia.

Here, messaging apps are hacked and read by the security services, so people avoid relaying sensitive information on social media. Or they switch to what we call ‘Aesopian language’ – a term that became particularly prevalent in Soviet times and means to encrypt language to evade censorship.

This makes it more difficult to coordinate protests or fully inform people about upcoming events. Any steps against the state, even virtual ones, are effectively suppressed, thanks to the increased control allowed by digital technology. All this affects daily life, and the behaviour of dissenting Russians who have remained in the country since the invasion last year.

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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ukraine-war-why-russians-are-not-protesting/

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