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Yandex Board of Directors’ Statement on Arkady Volozh Designation

48 points by ushakov 4y ago

deleted 4y ago
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deleted 4y ago
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pigtailgirl 4y ago
"Arkady Yurievich Volozh is a Russian businessperson with business interests in IT and technology. He is the founder and the CEO of Yandex. Yandex is the largest Internet company in Russia, operating Russia's most popular search engine. Russian State-owned banks such as Sberbank and VTB are shareholders and investors in Yandex. In 2019, Yandex agreed to a restructuring that gave a “golden share” to a newly formed Public Interest Foundation built to “defend the Russian Federation interests”. Through the Public Interest Foundation, the Government of the Russian Federation is able to have a veto over a defined list of issues, such as the sale of material IP and the sale or transfer of Russian users’ personal data to foreign companies, both of which are deemed to affect Russia’s “national interest”. Yandex is also responsible for promoting State media and narratives in its search results, and deranking and removing content critical of the Kremlin, such as content related to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. 3.6.2022’ Volozh is a leading businessperson involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine. Furthermore, as founder and CEO of Yandex, he is supporting, materially or financially, the Government of the Russian Federation and is responsible for supporting actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine." https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2022:153:FULL&from=EN https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L...
- OrvalWintermute 4y ago
  - pell 4y ago
    Which big US tech company is partly owned by the United States government with such powerful decision making capabilities?
    - aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
      On paper?!
      - pell 4y ago
        Yes.
        aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
        Good luck.
        pell 4y ago
        It’s not difficult to name shady, unlawful, unjust - you name it - behavior by the US government. It’s not difficult because to find any of it I can simply go to Google and in less than a second I’ll have a list of it all. Try that on Yandex or VKontakte. Good luck. If you have no evidence or even circumstantial hints your comment is nothing more than a conspiracy theory.
    - OrvalWintermute 4y ago
      > Which big US tech company is partly owned by the United States government with such powerful decision making capabilities? The golden share is not the equivalence of direct ownership, it is rather a control mechanism. Just like how much of our BigTech is controlled to an extent by the US govt, and how previously, congress was able to trade on insider information. Now, when we are talking control/ownership, are you asking for directly, or indirectly, or controlled? Most obvious of course is https://www.iqt.org/portfolio/ https://www.iqt.org/portfolio/ A list of companies that got acquired can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel This is to say nothing of other huge amount of federal funds, or the soft control exerted through politically connected billionaires which is actually one of the preferred mechanisms in both Russia, and the US. Us with our bigtech billionaires, in Russia with their Oligarchs. On a daily basis, section 230 reminder threats are being used against BigTech to remind them that they still work for the Establishment political parties. Here is a singular example, of which there are hundreds or more. https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2020/10/does-section-230-s-sweeping-immunity-enable-big-tech-bad-behavior https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2020/10/does-section-230-s-s...
- aaron695 4y ago
martin_a 4y ago
Better source probably: https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/06/yandex_ceo_arkady_volozh_resigns/ https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/06/yandex_ceo_arkady_vol... At least more background/cross-referencing to the "why".
thinkcontext 4y ago
Its a little surprising that authorities haven't gone after Yandex itself.
- tyingq 4y ago
  Guessing it gets most of it's revenue from in-country sources, so there's perhaps not much they can go after.
golergka 4y ago
Yandex News service is how a lot of Russians consume news media. It has a systemic history of censorship and propaganda. Also, Yandex search has been known to censor the results as well — always in interests of Russian state. Once upon a time, in the 00s, Yandex was a great company, with world-class technological community and great ties to Russian mathematical community. (My own high school has a seat in the PIF board alongside Russian universities). Sadly, this reputation is destroyed now.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Markoff 4y ago
  > Yandex News service is how a lot of Russians consume news media. It has a systemic history of censorship and propaganda. Also, Yandex search has been known to censor the results as well — always in interests of Russian state. so same as if you replace Yandex with Google and Russians with Americans
  - marcinzm 4y ago
    Sure, so if you're in a country that would be hurt by America more than Russia Yandex makes sense. If you're in many western countries then Russia is currently threatening every other weak to nuke you so... Propaganda is almost unavoidable in modern times but if possible it's better to avoid one that pretty directly goes against your own best interests.
- 88888888889 4y ago
  > Yandex News service is how a lot of Russians consume news media. It has a systemic history of censorship and propaganda. Also, Yandex search has been known to censor the results as well — always in interests of Russian state. I upvoted you, and though I can't speak or read Russian, I would be surprised if what you were saying wasn't true. However, Google extensively censors and distorts its search results too, while at the same time allowing SEO spam to abound, even when it comes to important areas like health information. If it were one or the other (i.e., great, relevant results with censorship, or mediocre results free from censorship), it wouldn't be so annoying. But the fact that Google actively goes out of its way to censor and manipulate its results, while at the same time allowing the overall quality to deteriorate, is extremely annoying.
A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
It is interesting. Can someone explain why there is no similar sanctions coordinated with US Treasury? I was under the impression they were supposed to move in tandem. Or the understanding exists that Arkady does not have assets in US?
perfect_kiss 4y ago
Arkady Volozh is only one of co-founders of Yandex, one who survived. It is interesting that another co-founder, Ilya Segalovich, was not only involved in development of Yandex, but was also taking part in public activity, such as combating electoral fraud, supporting children adoption laws reform, attending opposition rallies. He passed away in July 2013. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Segalovich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Segalovich
88888888889 4y ago
Yandex is a great alternative to Google, btw, provided you're not searching for something the Kremlin has an interest in distorting. They don't censor results for western sensibilities the way Google does. For example, if I search for a certain wrongthink blog I'm not supposed to be reading, google gives me literally 10 pages of results (I checked, out of curiosity) pertaining to a movie that shares its name--none relevant to the blog. Then when I tack on one additional specifier term (like part of the domain name, or the word "blog"), google magically relents and shows me the relevant results, as if to say, "ok, I'll let you search for that naughty thing, if you're 100% sure that's what you really want." Thanks, Google! By contrast, if you search the blog by name with Yandex (and DDG), it's on the first page. Also, Yandex never nerfed the facial recognition features of their image search like Google, Bing, and the rest did. (I assume they did this because women complained it made it too easy to find their old nudes.) Anyway, Yandex is good competition, and while not so much a complete alternative to Google, it's definitely a useful adjunct to it, and it's popular on /g/ for that reason.
- pvg 4y ago
  What is the blog search that Google is supposedly so censorious about?
- usrn 4y ago
  idk. I get results in Russian pretty often (I can't read Russian.) Also they gave me an m.wikipedia link today which was pretty annoying.
  - 88888888889 4y ago
    True, it often comes across as if non-Russian speakers are an afterthought to them. I wish they did more to appeal to the 'westerners miffed by western search engine censorship' demo.
- marcinzm 4y ago
  >Yandex is a great alternative to Google, btw, provided you're not searching for something the Kremlin has an interest in distorting. You mean like any topics related to a political election in your country? Russia has a vested interest in helping politicians get elected in other countries that help it's interests over those of others. Given the current internal state of Russia (even pre-invasion) it's unlikely that the interests of Russia even close to align with the interests of the people of those countries. Other nations do the exact same thing but we're talking specifically about Yandex here. Personally I care more about the large scale political future of my country than I do about whatever random social issue Google is going after that has minimal impact on me.

48 points by ushakov 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

pigtailgirl 4y ago

"Arkady Yurievich Volozh is a Russian businessperson with business interests in IT and technology. He is the founder and the CEO of Yandex. Yandex is the largest Internet company in Russia, operating Russia's most popular search engine. Russian State-owned banks such as Sberbank and VTB are shareholders and investors in Yandex. In 2019, Yandex agreed to a restructuring that gave a “golden share” to a newly formed Public Interest Foundation built to “defend the Russian Federation interests”. Through the Public Interest Foundation, the Government of the Russian Federation is able to have a veto over a defined list of issues, such as the sale of material IP and the sale or transfer of Russian users’ personal data to foreign companies, both of which are deemed to affect Russia’s “national interest”. Yandex is also responsible for promoting State media and narratives in its search results, and deranking and removing content critical of the Kremlin, such as content related to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. 3.6.2022’ Volozh is a leading businessperson involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine. Furthermore, as founder and CEO of Yandex, he is supporting, materially or financially, the Government of the Russian Federation and is responsible for supporting actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine." https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2022:153:FULL&from=EN https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L...

OrvalWintermute 4y ago
- pell 4y ago
  Which big US tech company is partly owned by the United States government with such powerful decision making capabilities?
  - aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
    On paper?!
    - pell 4y ago
      Yes.
      - aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
        Good luck.
        pell 4y ago
        It’s not difficult to name shady, unlawful, unjust - you name it - behavior by the US government. It’s not difficult because to find any of it I can simply go to Google and in less than a second I’ll have a list of it all. Try that on Yandex or VKontakte. Good luck. If you have no evidence or even circumstantial hints your comment is nothing more than a conspiracy theory.
  - OrvalWintermute 4y ago
    > Which big US tech company is partly owned by the United States government with such powerful decision making capabilities? The golden share is not the equivalence of direct ownership, it is rather a control mechanism. Just like how much of our BigTech is controlled to an extent by the US govt, and how previously, congress was able to trade on insider information. Now, when we are talking control/ownership, are you asking for directly, or indirectly, or controlled? Most obvious of course is https://www.iqt.org/portfolio/ https://www.iqt.org/portfolio/ A list of companies that got acquired can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel This is to say nothing of other huge amount of federal funds, or the soft control exerted through politically connected billionaires which is actually one of the preferred mechanisms in both Russia, and the US. Us with our bigtech billionaires, in Russia with their Oligarchs. On a daily basis, section 230 reminder threats are being used against BigTech to remind them that they still work for the Establishment political parties. Here is a singular example, of which there are hundreds or more. https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2020/10/does-section-230-s-sweeping-immunity-enable-big-tech-bad-behavior https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2020/10/does-section-230-s-s...
aaron695 4y ago

martin_a 4y ago

Better source probably: https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/06/yandex_ceo_arkady_volozh_resigns/ https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/06/yandex_ceo_arkady_vol... At least more background/cross-referencing to the "why".

thinkcontext 4y ago

Its a little surprising that authorities haven't gone after Yandex itself.

tyingq 4y ago
Guessing it gets most of it's revenue from in-country sources, so there's perhaps not much they can go after.

golergka 4y ago

Yandex News service is how a lot of Russians consume news media. It has a systemic history of censorship and propaganda. Also, Yandex search has been known to censor the results as well — always in interests of Russian state. Once upon a time, in the 00s, Yandex was a great company, with world-class technological community and great ties to Russian mathematical community. (My own high school has a seat in the PIF board alongside Russian universities). Sadly, this reputation is destroyed now.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Markoff 4y ago
> Yandex News service is how a lot of Russians consume news media. It has a systemic history of censorship and propaganda. Also, Yandex search has been known to censor the results as well — always in interests of Russian state. so same as if you replace Yandex with Google and Russians with Americans
- marcinzm 4y ago
  Sure, so if you're in a country that would be hurt by America more than Russia Yandex makes sense. If you're in many western countries then Russia is currently threatening every other weak to nuke you so... Propaganda is almost unavoidable in modern times but if possible it's better to avoid one that pretty directly goes against your own best interests.
88888888889 4y ago
> Yandex News service is how a lot of Russians consume news media. It has a systemic history of censorship and propaganda. Also, Yandex search has been known to censor the results as well — always in interests of Russian state. I upvoted you, and though I can't speak or read Russian, I would be surprised if what you were saying wasn't true. However, Google extensively censors and distorts its search results too, while at the same time allowing SEO spam to abound, even when it comes to important areas like health information. If it were one or the other (i.e., great, relevant results with censorship, or mediocre results free from censorship), it wouldn't be so annoying. But the fact that Google actively goes out of its way to censor and manipulate its results, while at the same time allowing the overall quality to deteriorate, is extremely annoying.

A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago

It is interesting. Can someone explain why there is no similar sanctions coordinated with US Treasury? I was under the impression they were supposed to move in tandem. Or the understanding exists that Arkady does not have assets in US?

perfect_kiss 4y ago

Arkady Volozh is only one of co-founders of Yandex, one who survived. It is interesting that another co-founder, Ilya Segalovich, was not only involved in development of Yandex, but was also taking part in public activity, such as combating electoral fraud, supporting children adoption laws reform, attending opposition rallies. He passed away in July 2013. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Segalovich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Segalovich

88888888889 4y ago

Yandex is a great alternative to Google, btw, provided you're not searching for something the Kremlin has an interest in distorting. They don't censor results for western sensibilities the way Google does. For example, if I search for a certain wrongthink blog I'm not supposed to be reading, google gives me literally 10 pages of results (I checked, out of curiosity) pertaining to a movie that shares its name--none relevant to the blog. Then when I tack on one additional specifier term (like part of the domain name, or the word "blog"), google magically relents and shows me the relevant results, as if to say, "ok, I'll let you search for that naughty thing, if you're 100% sure that's what you really want." Thanks, Google! By contrast, if you search the blog by name with Yandex (and DDG), it's on the first page. Also, Yandex never nerfed the facial recognition features of their image search like Google, Bing, and the rest did. (I assume they did this because women complained it made it too easy to find their old nudes.) Anyway, Yandex is good competition, and while not so much a complete alternative to Google, it's definitely a useful adjunct to it, and it's popular on /g/ for that reason.

pvg 4y ago
What is the blog search that Google is supposedly so censorious about?
usrn 4y ago
idk. I get results in Russian pretty often (I can't read Russian.) Also they gave me an m.wikipedia link today which was pretty annoying.
- 88888888889 4y ago
  True, it often comes across as if non-Russian speakers are an afterthought to them. I wish they did more to appeal to the 'westerners miffed by western search engine censorship' demo.
marcinzm 4y ago
>Yandex is a great alternative to Google, btw, provided you're not searching for something the Kremlin has an interest in distorting. You mean like any topics related to a political election in your country? Russia has a vested interest in helping politicians get elected in other countries that help it's interests over those of others. Given the current internal state of Russia (even pre-invasion) it's unlikely that the interests of Russia even close to align with the interests of the people of those countries. Other nations do the exact same thing but we're talking specifically about Yandex here. Personally I care more about the large scale political future of my country than I do about whatever random social issue Google is going after that has minimal impact on me.