Russia’s Internet gives election voice to opposition

Online media dictates country's news agenda:

Russia: As Russia becomes Europe’s largest Internet user, online media and blogs burst with vociferous criticism of the authorities, exposing political scandals and abuses ignored by state media.

Whether it’s a Twitter poster parodying President Dmitry Medvedev or a YouTube video of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin being whistled, the Internet is seething with subversive commentary ahead of Sunday’s legislative polls.

Russia came late to mass Internet penetration, but in September it overtook Germany as the European country with the most Internet users: 50.8 million aged over 15, according to Comscore ratings agency.

Putin famously dismissed the Internet last year as “50 percent pornography”, but the Russian-language sector is more and more dictating the news agenda despite the state domination of print and television media. What’s less clear is whether the mood of protest against Putin’s ruling party United Russia on the Internet will translate into concrete support for any opposition party.

State television, with its Kremlin-dominated news, is still Russians’ main source of information. But almost a quarter of Russians say they get most their news from the Internet, with its access to uncensored news and opinion. AFP