Sunday July 23 – Over a thousand people marched through Moscow’s central streets in support of freedom of the internet. The demonstrators chanted slogans such as “The internet will be free!” and “Censorship today, prison tomorrow!” in a vocal response to recent attempts by the Kremlin to impose restrictions on the internet while demanding the personal information of its users.

The march took place in response to a controversial decision by Russian lawmakers to pass a bill aimed at diminishing online anonymity by requiring service providers to establish users’ identity through their phone numbers. Furthermore, the government has recently passed legislation that will oblige social media sites and messenger services to delete ‘unreliable’ and ‘unlawful’ information. In the event of a violation, users and service providers alike will be liable to fines of up to 50 million rubles.

According to Open Russia, the piece of legislation does not specify exactly what kind of information is to be deemed ‘unreliable’, leaving the decision down to individual court orders. This authoritarian move leaves the door wide open to an unprecedented level of state censorship.  Roberto Panchvidze, director of one of VKontakte’s largest public groups (8.3 million followers) has commented saying “we are quietly walking into the kind of internet that they have right now in China…”

The Kremlin has long been fighting a battle with the internet, and the Russian Media Watchdog Roskomnadzor has recently been embroiled in a furious debate with VKontakte and popular messenger app Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who refused to allow the government access to Telegram’s encrypted messages.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky voiced a comment in support on Sunday’s movement saying “It is time to say ‘No!’ to Roskomnadzor, the organisation that has been intentionally messing with the internet for a long time: silencing dissenting citizens, banning opposition websites, trying to control social media users’ every move and labelling critics as terrorists!”

The legislation is being implemented under the guise of the fight against ‘extremism’, however, as we have witnessed countless times in recent years, the term ‘extremism’ is often used to describe undesirable political activity of any sort. In the name of the war on ‘extremism’ unmarked police officers regularly snoop into local opposition offices, confiscating their electronic equipment, forbidding entry to lawyers and, as was the case recently with one of Alexei Navalny’s local headquarters, even assaulting those present.

The Kremlin has good reason to fear the freedoms on offer through the internet, as recent research showed that the majority of young people obtain their news online, in the process bypassing the monopoly that state propaganda has on mainstream Russian media.  Opposition groups have been effective in utilising the internet for organising assemblies as well as a means of offering alternative news sources and gaining popular support out of reach of the censor.

Previous efforts by the authorities to crack down on online dissent have attracted widespread criticism and led to embarrassing consequences after numerous arrests have been made for as little as reposting harmless, often comic material on social media. Semyon Kochkin, a member of the Open Russia Movement in Cheboksary, was charged earlier this year for ‘promoting extremist materials’ after retweeting a segment of John Oliver’s popular American TV show “Last Week Tonight”.

Putin recently admitted to “not having time” for the internet and social media, a stark contrast to his main political opponent Alexei Navalny, whose online presence has attracted millions of subscribers and has had a huge effect among ‘generation Putin’ – those born and raised exclusively under Vladimir Putin.

In the run up to the 2018 elections, where Putin is predicted to stand unopposed, Kremlin sources have admitted that they are struggling to come up with a solid vision for another 6 years of Russia under Putin. The suggested slogan of 2018 is an appeal to a ‘from the heart’ vote for Putin under the mantra of ‘Justice, Respect, Trust’, a sentiment that lacks appeal to the younger, more progressive generation of Russians. The Kremlin’s war on the internet seems to be a simple case of ‘if you can’t beat them, ban them.’