4 ms·

its crazy that russian search engine is more "open" compared to US search engine

ch4s3 11mo ago
On this one particular issue. There are certainly things blocked by Russian search engines which have to comply with a rather lengthy list of banned sites since about 2012.
rootusrootus 11mo ago
If by more open you mean not easily censored by anybody but Putin. But it's hard to imagine that it's actually more open by any reasonable definition of that word.
- anonym29 11mo ago
  By open, they mean fewer results censored. The west censors more results overall than Russia, kind of like how more UK citizens are arrested for speech crimes than Russians, or kind of like how abortion is more legal in Russia than it is in half of the USA. Which isn't to say Russia is a bastion of free speech, it's not, you still can't go hold an LGBTQIA2s+ pride parade or publicly march demanding you be given the right to hold the parade in the future without being thrown in prison, but they're a poor case study for authoritarianism when the west is rapidly turning more authoritarian than Russia is, while Russia hasn't really changed much in that regard in the last quarter century or so.
  - gfdvgfffv 11mo ago
    “Practical freedom” is a very important measure of freedom. If you are generally more free to do what you want, how much does it matter that you live in a dictatorship? If I live in a democracy with 10,000 laws I can’t meaningful affect with 1 vote, am I free?
  - NicuCalcea 11mo ago
    Get off it, Russia is arresting people for a single web search: https://zona.media/news/2025/12/10/glukhikh https://zona.media/news/2025/12/10/glukhikh If you think the West is becoming more authoritarian than Russia, you're either misinformed or lying.
    - user205738 11mo ago
      When did a 3,000₽ ($37) fine for searching for nazi symbols turn into an arrest? Your source doesn't say anything about this.
      - NicuCalcea 11mo ago
        > Sergei Glukhikh, 20, was arrested in September under a law that had come into force earlier that month, and which raised concerns about expanded surveillance and potential abuse by law enforcement. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/12/10/first-russian-fined-40-for-googling-extremist-content-a91397 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/12/10/first-russian-fine... Hope that clarifies it for you.
        user205738 11mo ago
        The Moscow Times has the same relationship to Moscow as the RFA has to Chinese news. This is a propaganda mouthpiece, thepurpose the purpose of which is to engage in cherrypicking, finding isolated cases and making a big deal out of a molehill. If it's also going to be against Russia, it would be great. >"found Glukhikh guilty and imposed a fine of 3,000 rubles ($38)." "Glukhikh, who did not attend his sentencing hearing, has denied his guilt." And also: "FSB officer noticed Glukhikh searching for extremist content while riding next to him on the bus" That is, an employee of the services saw a search for a banned organization engaged in the murder of Russians and the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine and reported it. You must admit that this is not the same as just looking for information on Yandex. And the parental comment refers specifically to the Yandex search, and not to isolated cases when an FSB agent suddenly stands behind you. Keep in mind that millions of Russians search for information about VPN and the rest every day, openly discuss it on social networks and do not receive any punishment for it.
alterom 11mo ago
>its crazy that russian search engine is more "open" compared to US search engine It's crazy that you think there's only one search engine in the US. Try this one: https://www.bing.com/search?q=sci-hub https://www.bing.com/search?q=sci-hub
thomassmith65 11mo ago
That's not the case. https://ft.com/content/8a71052d-d26d-4d71-95d8-c8886ca4fdea https://ft.com/content/8a71052d-d26d-4d71-95d8-c8886ca4fdea
- groundzeros2015 11mo ago
  Paywall
  - thomassmith65 11mo ago
    Oops, sorry about that! mirror: https://archive.ph/GTnS3 https://archive.ph/GTnS3
    - thomassmith65 11mo ago
      Just realized "archive.ph" is inappropriate for this topic... https://hackread.com/fbi-wants-to-know-who-runs-archive-ph https://hackread.com/fbi-wants-to-know-who-runs-archive-ph Today is not my day.
red_Seashell_32 11mo ago
It’s most definitely not.
- groundzeros2015 11mo ago
  There are countless websites and topics removed from Google. It’s impossible to say.

ch4s3 11mo ago

On this one particular issue. There are certainly things blocked by Russian search engines which have to comply with a rather lengthy list of banned sites since about 2012.

rootusrootus 11mo ago

If by more open you mean not easily censored by anybody but Putin. But it's hard to imagine that it's actually more open by any reasonable definition of that word.

anonym29 11mo ago
By open, they mean fewer results censored. The west censors more results overall than Russia, kind of like how more UK citizens are arrested for speech crimes than Russians, or kind of like how abortion is more legal in Russia than it is in half of the USA. Which isn't to say Russia is a bastion of free speech, it's not, you still can't go hold an LGBTQIA2s+ pride parade or publicly march demanding you be given the right to hold the parade in the future without being thrown in prison, but they're a poor case study for authoritarianism when the west is rapidly turning more authoritarian than Russia is, while Russia hasn't really changed much in that regard in the last quarter century or so.
- gfdvgfffv 11mo ago
  “Practical freedom” is a very important measure of freedom. If you are generally more free to do what you want, how much does it matter that you live in a dictatorship? If I live in a democracy with 10,000 laws I can’t meaningful affect with 1 vote, am I free?
- NicuCalcea 11mo ago
  Get off it, Russia is arresting people for a single web search: https://zona.media/news/2025/12/10/glukhikh https://zona.media/news/2025/12/10/glukhikh If you think the West is becoming more authoritarian than Russia, you're either misinformed or lying.
  - user205738 11mo ago
    When did a 3,000₽ ($37) fine for searching for nazi symbols turn into an arrest? Your source doesn't say anything about this.
    - NicuCalcea 11mo ago
      > Sergei Glukhikh, 20, was arrested in September under a law that had come into force earlier that month, and which raised concerns about expanded surveillance and potential abuse by law enforcement. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/12/10/first-russian-fined-40-for-googling-extremist-content-a91397 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/12/10/first-russian-fine... Hope that clarifies it for you.
      - user205738 11mo ago
        The Moscow Times has the same relationship to Moscow as the RFA has to Chinese news. This is a propaganda mouthpiece, thepurpose the purpose of which is to engage in cherrypicking, finding isolated cases and making a big deal out of a molehill. If it's also going to be against Russia, it would be great. >"found Glukhikh guilty and imposed a fine of 3,000 rubles ($38)." "Glukhikh, who did not attend his sentencing hearing, has denied his guilt." And also: "FSB officer noticed Glukhikh searching for extremist content while riding next to him on the bus" That is, an employee of the services saw a search for a banned organization engaged in the murder of Russians and the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine and reported it. You must admit that this is not the same as just looking for information on Yandex. And the parental comment refers specifically to the Yandex search, and not to isolated cases when an FSB agent suddenly stands behind you. Keep in mind that millions of Russians search for information about VPN and the rest every day, openly discuss it on social networks and do not receive any punishment for it.

alterom 11mo ago

>its crazy that russian search engine is more "open" compared to US search engine It's crazy that you think there's only one search engine in the US. Try this one: https://www.bing.com/search?q=sci-hub https://www.bing.com/search?q=sci-hub

thomassmith65 11mo ago

That's not the case. https://ft.com/content/8a71052d-d26d-4d71-95d8-c8886ca4fdea https://ft.com/content/8a71052d-d26d-4d71-95d8-c8886ca4fdea

groundzeros2015 11mo ago
Paywall
- thomassmith65 11mo ago
  Oops, sorry about that! mirror: https://archive.ph/GTnS3 https://archive.ph/GTnS3
  - thomassmith65 11mo ago
    Just realized "archive.ph" is inappropriate for this topic... https://hackread.com/fbi-wants-to-know-who-runs-archive-ph https://hackread.com/fbi-wants-to-know-who-runs-archive-ph Today is not my day.

red_Seashell_32 11mo ago

It’s most definitely not.

groundzeros2015 11mo ago
There are countless websites and topics removed from Google. It’s impossible to say.