The Prosecutor General’s Office reported on 200,000 blocks for “fakes”

More than 69 thousand Internet resources were removed or blocked in Russia in 2023 for so-called fakes and discrediting of the army. This is reported by TASS with reference to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia.

According to the agency, in 2022, 128,000 Internet resources were blocked. Thus, the number of blockades since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has approached 200 thousand. The prosecutor’s office notes that the decrease in indicators is partly due to the blocking of social networks Facebook and Instagram in 2022. The company Meta, which owns these resources, was recognized as extremist.

The blocked messages concern primarily the war in Ukraine, as well as the economic situation in Russia, the “use of nuclear weapons” and violations during the elections in the fall of 2023.

According to Roskomsvoboda, more than 15 thousand sites and links have been blocked in Russia since the beginning of the war. The figure differs from the data provided by the Prosecutor General’s Office, since most of the blocks concern individual comments, accounts and groups on the Vkontakte social network. In addition, not all sites are actually blocked because they remove information that, according to the authorities, contains “fakes” or “discrediting”.

In 2023, prosecutors sent criminal cases to court against 70 defendants under the article on the public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian armed forces. A total of 135 such criminals were registered. The press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office informed the TASS agency about this.

• According to the Top10VPN project, in 2023 Russia turned out to be the country most affected by limited Internet. The Russian economy lost about four billion dollars against the background of global losses from intentional shutdowns in the amount of nine billion dollars. Internet restrictions affected 113 million users in Russia.
• Military censorship appeared in Russia a few days after the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022. In addition to social networks, the Russian authorities have blocked the websites of all independent mass media and most human rights organizations. Articles on fakes and discrediting the army appeared in the criminal and administrative code, which provide for prison sentences for anti-war positions or reports of war crimes by Russian soldiers.