Russia: People try to circumvent media censorship
For us, in France, it is more than complicated to find any justification for the attack on Ukraine by the Russian government. However, as we know, in the country held with an iron fist in a concrete glove by Vladimir Putin, this “special operation” (as he himself likes to call it) is above all perceived as a liberation of the Ukrainian population enslaved by the Nazis who force them to speak their language. Even if relations between the two countries are complex and not as Manichean as that, everyone in Europe is obviously well aware that Putin has gone too far and that this “denazification” is only a pretext to try to annex the country. However, in Russia, it is the only story that has airtime, whether on television, radio or in the newspapers. To find out the truth, the population must therefore find devious means.
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Also Read: Best VPN 2022: Bypass Censorship!
To burst the access
You should know that the Russian government has banned access on its territory to many Western sites considered as sources of information from countries “hostile” to the homeland. Thus, for example, it is impossible to open the pages of the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg or BFMTV there. Same sanction with social networks since Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are also inaccessible. On the channels of the country of the tsars, we accumulate fake news in denouncing manipulations by the Ukrainians who would attack their territory themselves to make believe in Russian abuses. The height of cynicism being reached concerning the images of the Bucha massacres described by Russian spokespersons as stagings worthy of a film. Fortunately, Putin’s government does not represent the people and many Russians are not fooled.
The Russian Embassy in France faithful to its line (and its style). And the government’s response. pic.twitter.com/oM33I9jaQB
— Nicolas Berrod (@nicolasberrod) April 6, 2022
Read also: Info war: RT France remains muzzled. Why do we do the same as the Russians?
This is indeed what the engineers of Cloudfare which reveal a certain reality to us after the analysis of application downloads on the Play Store and the App Store. In the first three places we find VPNs and, at the foot of the podium, Telegram, encrypted messaging. This clearly shows that the interest in external sources of information is there (unless it’s just to watch Netflix…). VPNs are used to connect to the Internet network by pretending that you are in another country and also to surf anonymously. A smokescreen which represents rather an advantage in a country where any dissemination of information discrediting the army is punished by 15 years in prison.
Until when ?
If this very telling picture is a promise of hope for access to the truth by the Russian people, it should still be known that more than twenty VPN services have already been banned in the territory. The Kremlin has even announced that other bans will soon follow. However, invited on the set of a Belarusian television program, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Russian government, himself revealed that he had installed a VPN on his computer.
“You have installed VPN”- tells journalist to Peskov. “Yeah it’s not banned”, answers Peskov. pic.twitter.com/6IOdbnAADA
— Ani Chkhikvadze (@achkhikvadze) April 2, 2022
It must be said that some are still allowed to operate if they follow certain government guidelines. Another important fact highlighted by Cloudfare, the surge in downloads of Warp/ 1.1.1.1. This tool allows access to a foreign site by connecting to a remote server. Access providers therefore cannot monitor DNS queries. According to analyses, although very little used in Russia in February, its use exploded there from the start of the war. The DNS traffic of searches relating to the French, British and American media would even have quintupled.
From there to dream of a revolt of the Russian people unhappy that we are waging a war that they do not want in their name…
