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Comment by mojuba | Hacker News Reader

In the years preceding the collapse of the USSR, circa 1987, 98% of the population supported the Communist Party. When there is no freedom of speech votes aren't predictive or indicative of anything at all other than the amount of propaganda.

There is no freedom of speech in Russia today, in fact it's been deteriorating year by year. So no, the pro-Putin votes you have today will evaporate in a (historical) instant just like they did then, in the 1980s.

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I see Russians everywhere on the Internet speaking their mind freely and hosting political Youtube channels. The government has nowhere near the grip on information it had during the USSR.

Additionally Russians can access all Western media whenever they like and they do so often, especially the urbanized population. (where the majority of them create pro-Putin comments defending the actions of the Russian government)

That pro-Putin votes will evaporate is just your personal opinion and hope, but it isn't based on anything real. After the Yeltsin years it will take many decades for liberalism to recover in Russia.

Russian government does censor the internet. There is a blacklist maintained by Roskomnadzor; it, for instance, blacklists certain Wikipedia pages, along with certain opposition and other "extremist" web sites. Russia lacks a China-style single-choke-point firewall; ISPs have to enforce it.

If you have a chance to watch any Russian TV, you can't avoid noticing how propaganda-heavy it is, and how all the propaganda is in favor of the government (in the US, at least, the latter is not the case).

Also, being a businessman of any importance and not following the party line does not work. Not all cases are as dramatic as Khodorkovsky's, who happened to own one of the largest oils and gas companies, but legal harassment of business for political non-conformance continues, or continued while such non-conformance lasted, or, at least, was publicly visible.

This is milder than China, and way milder and more sane than than the Soviet regime was; there's no doubt about it. Also, the sharp rise in living standards of 2000s, fueled by oil prices, is still remembered and has not completely deteriorated. So Putin does enjoy some genuine citizens' support. It's still not something that citizens, acting freely and with consideration, have chosen, kind of like the Swiss do in their referenda.

Yes. Although I disagree with censorship where ever it happens, you can hardly argue that the blocked pages are political in nature.

Wikipedia was blocked for drug and suicide related content and was since then unblocked. (after Wikipedia removed these articles in its Russian version)

I can argue. Why were grani.ru blocked?

> Additionally Russians can access all Western media whenever they like and they do so often, especially the urbanized population.

East Germans could get West German television.

There is rampant blocking of religious freedom in Russia - online and in real life, enforced by government and England's by the Orthodox Church. It is a regime and it is a tyranny.

What is "blocking of religious freedom" even supposed to mean? Do you mean the freedom to be a Sunni Jihadist or following some other school of extremist indoctrination?

I'm a Russian freely speaking my mind on the Internet. I’ve only started doing that after I've took my one-way flight from there, with no intention to return ever.

Are you sure those Russians you're talking about aren't emigrants like me?

Who or what prevented speaking your mind on the Internet while in Russia. I'd really like to know.

It's not like they have a great firewall there where every foreign service is blocked.

And yes, based on the sheer number of Russian comments found on the Internet you would have to be insane to honestly propose that these are only coming from emigrants

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