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Microsoft and Apple perhaps, but I suspect it's advantageous for Facebook, Twitter, and Google to remain otherwise the state propaganda apparatus would only get

Microsoft and Apple perhaps, but I suspect it's advantageous for Facebook, Twitter, and Google to remain otherwise the state propaganda apparatus would only get stronger.

EEMac 5y ago
marginalia_nu 5y ago
Aren't Russians mostly on VK and Yandex anyway?
- r721 5y ago
  Still Facebook is pretty popular, Statista says the penetration rate is 39%: https://www.statista.com/statistics/867549/top-active-social-media-platforms-in-russia/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/867549/top-active-social...
- graphpercolator 5y ago
  Yea of a 140 million people they all agree with Putin. 0% disagree with Putin and even if they did 0% would use Reddit to communicate with people outside of Russia. Come on.
  - marginalia_nu 5y ago
    Well my point is that if you shut down Russian access to western services, the Russians go to Russian services and only see what the Kremlin wants them to see. This doesn't harm Putin, it effectively helps him undo Glasnost. If the Russian people can't read CNN, they read Pravda.
agumonkey 5y ago
It's not working great it seems. A few russian kids came on reddit expressing no hatred against ukraine, but being powerless due to the oligarchic structure of Russian politics. It might be a fake account I don't know. But with the recent risky protests.. actually I don't know what to say. It seems that propaganda is somehow deeper on non Russian groups. Lots of people in other countries are rooting for russia based on west past failures.
- tut-urut-utut 5y ago
  You can't win the hearts of people only by propaganda. If someone comes from a country where NATO "introduced democracy" by bombing civilians and installing a puppet government, all Facebooks, Googles and Microsofts of the world will not help for those people to support USA over Russia, which didn't do anything wrong to them.
- Buttons840 5y ago
  Isolating the people will lead them to viewing us as an outside group, and people can easily be made to hate another group. Isolating the people will only make it worse.
- TameAntelope 5y ago
  Maybe I'm paranoid, but I assume 100% of Russian content on Reddit is manufactured. Their government has just invested so much into psyops that it successfully undermined legitimate engagement (for me).
  - the_af 5y ago
    I don't follow that line of reasoning. If a few Russian kids express "no hatred against Ukraine" and claim to actually feel powerless at the oligarchic structure of their country (Russia), in which way do you feel this could be manufactured psyops? What purpose could this serve as propaganda, "Russians kids don't like Putin or the ruling system"? Wouldn't propaganda look more like "our country means Ukraine no harm, but in this case we are right because [reasons]"?
    - TameAntelope 5y ago
      It's being used right now to soften the perception of Russia ("See look, the Russian people don't approve of this!" as a way of implicitly arguing against sanctions) right now, that seems valuable. Also "chaos" has value. It's a big thing in how PsyOps works (from my limited understanding); when you sew chaos, you can get away with more.
hoffspot 5y ago
odiroot 5y ago
There's always Telegram. People share channels with friends and family.

Microsoft and Apple perhaps, but I suspect it's advantageous for Facebook, Twitter, and Google to remain otherwise the state propaganda apparatus would only get stronger.

EEMac 5y ago

marginalia_nu 5y ago

Aren't Russians mostly on VK and Yandex anyway?

r721 5y ago
Still Facebook is pretty popular, Statista says the penetration rate is 39%: https://www.statista.com/statistics/867549/top-active-social-media-platforms-in-russia/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/867549/top-active-social...
graphpercolator 5y ago
Yea of a 140 million people they all agree with Putin. 0% disagree with Putin and even if they did 0% would use Reddit to communicate with people outside of Russia. Come on.
- marginalia_nu 5y ago
  Well my point is that if you shut down Russian access to western services, the Russians go to Russian services and only see what the Kremlin wants them to see. This doesn't harm Putin, it effectively helps him undo Glasnost. If the Russian people can't read CNN, they read Pravda.

agumonkey 5y ago

It's not working great it seems. A few russian kids came on reddit expressing no hatred against ukraine, but being powerless due to the oligarchic structure of Russian politics. It might be a fake account I don't know. But with the recent risky protests.. actually I don't know what to say. It seems that propaganda is somehow deeper on non Russian groups. Lots of people in other countries are rooting for russia based on west past failures.

tut-urut-utut 5y ago
You can't win the hearts of people only by propaganda. If someone comes from a country where NATO "introduced democracy" by bombing civilians and installing a puppet government, all Facebooks, Googles and Microsofts of the world will not help for those people to support USA over Russia, which didn't do anything wrong to them.
Buttons840 5y ago
Isolating the people will lead them to viewing us as an outside group, and people can easily be made to hate another group. Isolating the people will only make it worse.
TameAntelope 5y ago
Maybe I'm paranoid, but I assume 100% of Russian content on Reddit is manufactured. Their government has just invested so much into psyops that it successfully undermined legitimate engagement (for me).
- the_af 5y ago
  I don't follow that line of reasoning. If a few Russian kids express "no hatred against Ukraine" and claim to actually feel powerless at the oligarchic structure of their country (Russia), in which way do you feel this could be manufactured psyops? What purpose could this serve as propaganda, "Russians kids don't like Putin or the ruling system"? Wouldn't propaganda look more like "our country means Ukraine no harm, but in this case we are right because [reasons]"?
  - TameAntelope 5y ago
    It's being used right now to soften the perception of Russia ("See look, the Russian people don't approve of this!" as a way of implicitly arguing against sanctions) right now, that seems valuable. Also "chaos" has value. It's a big thing in how PsyOps works (from my limited understanding); when you sew chaos, you can get away with more.

hoffspot 5y ago

odiroot 5y ago

There's always Telegram. People share channels with friends and family.