As the Russian government intensifies its grip on the internet, censorship circumvention tools like Tor are more critical than ever. Here's the latest on Tor censorship in Russia and how you can help by running WebTunnel bridges.
Anecdotal, I have Russian friends (a couple and their kids).
The dad is really apologetic for his country. He also laments not being able to go back to visit his parents, because his profession would likely be in very high demand by the military so he doesn’t want to risk getting pulled in for service (even though he’s in his 40s).
The mom already went back once, with kids. She says that the population in general, in both Moscow and the countryside, seem really oblivious to what’s going on. There’s a huge disconnect and often even disbelief about what’s going on further west. Likely due to govt media propaganda only running special operations victory headlines. Also those that are able, but down on their luck and fortune, are happy to sign up with the military for (relatively) good pay, especially if their role is not something that makes them fight at the front line directly.
I mean its pretty similar to the US recruiting their poor citizens to fight in the middle east. They are often just as oblivious to the fact that its usually entirely one sided aggression or resource wars.
Ok but the information was available. It wasn’t being suppressed. You could openly talk about how awful the wars were without being arrested. The ignorance was self-inflicted rather than state-sponsored. That’s significantly different.
There is definitely constant industrial, corporate and state sponsored misinformation. All major news outlets including the more left leaning ones fall in line when it comes to war.
But yes i agree, at least in more recent times, there is no need to suppress the truth anymore. I dont really know why that is, but the political landscape is so full of lies next to the truth that nobody believes or cares about anything anymore.
Anecdotal, I have Russian friends (a couple and their kids).
The dad is really apologetic for his country. He also laments not being able to go back to visit his parents, because his profession would likely be in very high demand by the military so he doesn’t want to risk getting pulled in for service (even though he’s in his 40s).
The mom already went back once, with kids. She says that the population in general, in both Moscow and the countryside, seem really oblivious to what’s going on. There’s a huge disconnect and often even disbelief about what’s going on further west. Likely due to govt media propaganda only running special operations victory headlines. Also those that are able, but down on their luck and fortune, are happy to sign up with the military for (relatively) good pay, especially if their role is not something that makes them fight at the front line directly.
I mean its pretty similar to the US recruiting their poor citizens to fight in the middle east. They are often just as oblivious to the fact that its usually entirely one sided aggression or resource wars.
Ok but the information was available. It wasn’t being suppressed. You could openly talk about how awful the wars were without being arrested. The ignorance was self-inflicted rather than state-sponsored. That’s significantly different.
There is definitely constant industrial, corporate and state sponsored misinformation. All major news outlets including the more left leaning ones fall in line when it comes to war.
But yes i agree, at least in more recent times, there is no need to suppress the truth anymore. I dont really know why that is, but the political landscape is so full of lies next to the truth that nobody believes or cares about anything anymore.