Russian tech giant Yandex erases damaged Ukrainian buildings from maps; Iranian regime thrives on Telegram
Bits of Ukraine are being erased from the Russian internet. As the war drags on, residential buildings that have crumbled under Russian attacks in Mariupol have begun to disappear from Yandex Maps, in what might be an attempt to hide the scale of destruction. Although this one has since reappeared, it is something to keep an eye on. Last August, users noticed that the borders between countries suddenly disappeared. Country names stayed in place, but the lines distinguishing one from the next vanished, as if the question of where these borders lie was one that Yandex didn’t feel prepared to answer. Often described by Westerners as “Russian Google,” Yandex has retained a modicum of independence from state interests until fairly recently, when, at an apparently secret meeting, it was agreed that the company would be split into two, one that would remain in Russia and another headquartered in the Netherlands. The Russian arm will be led by Putin ally Alexei Kudrin, who is sure to take his chunk of the company in a decidedly pro-Kremlin direction.
Protests in China have continued since last week. If you want to find reliable information online about what is happening there, it’s tricky, especially if you’re in China. The Cyberspace Administration has issued a few protest-related censorship directives to state media and web platforms. Search engines were instructed to “clean-up search results related to bypassing the Firewall, and limit the spread of keywords such as ‘Firewall circumvention,’ ‘accessing the Internet scientifically,’ etc.” But plenty of Chinese people are getting their protest information elsewhere — through word-of-mouth, graffiti and good old fashioned writing on paper.
HOW TELEGRAM IS AIDING THE IRANIAN REGIME
It has been nearly three months since protesters across Iran began demanding economic reforms, codification of women’s rights and, as they’ve been saying in the streets, “death to the dictator.” Momentum swelled last week, when oil workers, truckers and transportation workers went on strike in support of the movement.
The battle is also playing out online. With local sites and services under close watch by the authorities, and all the major U.S.-based platforms now blocked, the somewhat-secure chat app and messaging service Telegram has become ground zero for communicating about the protests. But it’s not just protestors who are using the app.