From “Troll Factories” to “Littering the Information Space”: Control Strategies Over the Russian Internet

[摘要] This article explores aspects, transformations, and dynamics of the ideological control of the internet in Russia. It analysesthe strategies of actors across the Russian online space which contribute to this state‐driven ideological control. The tight‐ening of legislative regulation over the last 10 years to control social media and digital self‐expression in Russia is relativelywell studied. However, there is a lack of research on how the control of the internet works at a structural level. Namely,how it isolates “echo chambers” of oppositional discourses while also creating a massive flood of pro‐state informationand opinions. This article argues that the strategy of the Russian state to control the internet over the last 10 years haschanged considerably. From creating troll factories and bots to distort communication in social media, the state is pro‐gressively moving towards a strategy of creating a huge state‐oriented information flood to “litter” online space. Such astrategy relies on the generation of news resources which attract large volumes of traffic, which leads to such “trash infor‐mation” dominating the internet.

[学科分类] 医学（综合）

[关键词] alternative media;ideological control;digital self‐expression;power;RuNet;Russian media;social media