Research Papers

Our information about the ‘Arab Revolutions’ was heavily reliant on the reports and visual images of ordinary citizens. The role that new technologies have played in effectively helping to liberate citizens from state control is forcing us to reconsider the state-society relationship. At least two questions arise from recent events: i) To what extent are the social media outpourings representative of the population as a whole? ii) Is the state’s control over its citizens affected significantly by society’s increased capacity to access external information points? This paper considers these questions in respect of Russia’s internet usage. The questions are timely for Russia in the context of an EU-Russia Modernisation agenda, public demonstrations against alleged electoral misconduct in the December 2011 Duma elections and President Medvedev’s own long-held view that Russia must develop and promote access to and use of new technologies. However, these latter ambitions sit in direct tension with other suggestions that influential voices within Russia seek to emulate the Chinese in controlling internet access. Who wins the argument depends on how vulnerable the state feels it is in relation to the kind of democratic forces apparent in North Africa in 2011. This paper investigates the level of threat to the Russian state from internet usage particularly, arguing that the likelihood of tighter controls being established is dependent on a number of factors, including what percentage of the population has access to the internet, what they use it for, and where, considering Russia’s vastness, they are located.