Google fell in love with silence

The Americans voluntarily complied with the Russian authorities on blocking the videos of the Navalny team

For the electoral holiday on September 9, the authorities were preparing with all seriously and already habitually sent potentially unreliable citizens to bars. At first, Alexei Navalny received the next administrative period, then the detention of his activists throughout the country began. Nevertheless, the Corruption Foundation continued to work and called on its supporters to reach protests against pension reform. To spoil the authorities of the holiday.

Information about the actions of the opposition traditionally distributed on social networks, and the FBK conducted a real advertising campaign, paying for shows of his messages for the target audience. On September 4, the Central Election Commission, the prosecutor’s office, and for some reason, the FAS was sent by the largest sites on the Internet, letters demanding not to violate Russian legislation on elections and withdraw the opposition’s advertising publications. The conflict formally lies in the fact that the shares of Navalny coincided with a single voting day and, therefore, as they believe in the CEC, can affect the course of the will. On September 8, on the day of silence, it became known that in Google (owns YouTube), these requirements of the Russian authorities fulfilled these requirements. The press service explains that the company considers all appeals of the authorities and is forced to act in accordance with local law.

The ally of Navalny Leonid Volkov claims: Google representatives did not understand the situation. Announcements of shares were removed even in those regions where there are no elections in this September, and besides, even where the opposition shares were authorized by the authorities. In addition, Volkov proves, in Russian legislation there is no obvious ban on holding rallies on the day of silence, and the CEC letter is not a legal document mandatory for execution. According to the representative of the FBK, activists will be able to explain their position Google, as has already happened in the past.

Nevertheless, in a political basis, the situation looks quite alarming for the opposition.

The example of Google can be followed by other sites, such as Facebook, and the Russian authorities will develop success, demanding more and more censorship restrictions.

The position of the American company, claiming that she is forced to comply with the instructions of local laws, is quite understandable. But what to do in a situation where Russian lawmakers can afford to introduce any, most absurd restrictions that contradict both the constitution and common sense? Finally, a clear political problem is that until recently, social networks remained the last space of freedom of speech in Russia, and Google’s actions were narrowed. It is especially alarming that the key for modern public discussion in Russia is the YouTube service also belongs to Google.

It is not yet clear why Google went to meet the Russian authorities precisely on the issue of advertising in the context of the election legislation, and for many other reasons it stores a more balanced position. But if you distract from the momentary Russian plots, all of this is a global problem. The largest Internet companies are forced to act differently in different jurisdictions, which ultimately leads to the fact that there will be no global network, and all data will be controlled by national governments. The latter clearly declare such a goal, so now the move for Google and the rest. Do businessmen, users and advertisers want to play the game “Follow any orders of the authorities” sequentially? Or is there any limit?

Ultimately, it is unlikely that any of the major foreign players want to be in the same boat with Mail.ru Group.