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As a Russian citizen, I'm also very interested what Internet Hero Edward Snowden thinks about this.
The greatest instrument used in the societal tragedies of the last century has (undoubtedly) been state delivered propaganda. Japan (Empire of the Rising Sun), Nazi Germany, Maoism (and the following Cultural Revolution), in America: Red Scare (age of McCarthyism, ending as a consequence of JMc.'s untimely death), the Red Peril (the predecessor of the Red Scare) -- the list goes on. The efficacy of those at the top t…
The role of the Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian media in the wars following the break up of Yugoslavia[1].
The role of state controlled radio and TV in the Rwandan genocide[2][3]. To quote from [2]:
From October 1993 to late 1994, RTLM was used by Hutu leaders to advance an extremist Hutu message and anti-Tutsi disinformation, spreading fear of a Tutsi genocide against Hutu, identifying specific Tutsi targets or areas where they could be found, and encouraging the progress of the genocide. In April 1994, Radio Rwanda began to advance a similar message, speaking for the national authorities, issuing directives on how and where to kill Tutsis, and congratulating those who had already taken part.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_the_media_in_the_Yugosl...
[2] http://migs.concordia.ca/links/RwandaRadioTranscripts.htm
The law, that created internet block list in Russia, was promoted as a measure to stop child pornography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Restriction_Bill
The slippery slope.
1. Lenta.ru, one of the biggest Russian news websites (600 thousand visitors daily) mentioned in the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenta.ru Although Wikipedia says "39 employees out of the total 84 lost their jobs" it is known that they were not fired but were leaving the company together with fired Editor-in-Chief Galina Timchenko as an act against censorship. Some links:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26543464
http://en.rsf.org/russia-lenta-ru-website-is-latest-13-03-20...
http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2014/03/12/russian-news-...
2. And this is what happened with TV Rain news channel. It will be closed soon most probably.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/04/russian-news-ch...
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2014/02/asking...
3. Echo Moskvy. "The head of one of Russia's few remaining independent broadcasters, Ekho Moskvy, has been dismissed and replaced by an editor from state media.", "Its editor said it was an "unjust" and "totally political decision" aimed at changing editorial policy."
http://www.rferl.org/content/gazprom_wants_to_dismiss_radio_...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26239715
4. The New Times started a paid subscription to protect itself from censorship a few months ago. This is the only link, in Russian, couldn't find any sources in English: http://www.newtimes.ru/obrashenie-avtora/
If you are in Russia I would get the TOR browser fast, before the government blocks the main TOR download mirrors as well.
- downloading the pluggable transports bundle: https://www.torproject.org/docs/pluggable-transports.html.en...
- and getting some bridges: https://bridges.torproject.org/
just to have all this ready in case they decide to do some more nasty stuff later on.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
UK is next. There's no doubt in my mind they will start blocking news sites, blogs and social media in the next mass protest (if there will be one anytime soon, since UK population seems almost as complacent and docile as the American one, which is just perfect for authoritarians).
At least UK has independent courts. Human rights activists should hire good lawyers, get them in touch with experts on networks and cryptography, and start example cases, adding nice proper focused coverage on top of it all to form a public opinion. The precedents should be set until it's too late. UPD: I should probably have mentioned that I'm from Russia.
The law, that created internet block list in Russia, was promoted as a measure to stop child pornography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Restriction_Bill
And UK has already put everything they need in place - next thing on the list, invade Ireland :-)
2. Use those laws to shut down public knowledge.
3. Invade a country to see how the rest of the world responds.
4. This is the most important step. We respond with strength or we respond with diplomacy.
5. If we respond with diplomacy step 6 would be for Putin to invade another country. If we respond with force, it would lead Putin to respond with backtracking...
The choice is theirs.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you trying to insinuate that Snowden remained in Russia by choice?
Certainly, it is at least somewhat ironic that he is currently in Russia, given all the latest news out of that country. In fact, reading Greenwald's writings on recent events in Ukraine, I am having a hard time ignoring the curious pro-Putin slant in his writings.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least UK has independent courts. Human rights activists should hire good lawyers, get them in touch with experts on networks and cryptography, and start example cases, adding nice proper focused coverage on top of it all to form a public opinion. The precedents should be set until it's too late. UPD: I should probably have mentioned that I'm from Russia.
It's a good joke