Kremlin May Forge a Separate 2.0 Peace

The Kremlin is going 2.0 by extending its reach into cyberspace, where dissidents have found refuge from the government’s tight censorship. While Putin allies mount pro-government websites and snatch up existing independent outlets, Moscow is considering the creation of a separate Russian network. “The attractiveness of the Internet as a free platform for free people is already dimming,” one expert said.

Vladimir Putin has said the government wouldn’t waste its time censoring the web. But with 25% of Russians now online, Moscow may exert greater control, the Post reports, beginning with a Russian-only network it could monitor more easily. The silver lining, one analyst says, is that the Kremlin is that instead of trying to repress its cyber-opponents, “they’re trying to play the game.” (More Russia stories.)